Okay, I'm sensing filler here but I don't know if that's what it's going to be so just kinda'…bear with me. Yeah, yeah, I know, the last chapter wasn't that good and I'm sorry. I'm struggling, ever so slowly, towards an ending. The climax and all that, you know?

Anyways, as our dear friend Peyton always says: "Expect the unexpected!"

23: Goodnight Nobody


Vlad Masters: "If any good has come of this it's that ten years without ghost powers has taught me what a fool I've been."

Danny Phantom: "Maybe that's all anybody needs; a second chance." –from Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy


"Tobias." Said a husky voice and the eldest Khaos brother turned in his seat to find himself looking up at Xilvin and Xhostam, both dressed once more in their black Organization cloaks.

Tobias smiled, stood, and hugged them both. Xilvin's eyes widened with confusion and surprise and Xhostam turned pink without even knowing why. Then Tobias released them, one of his hands on each of their shoulders,

"You two have a lot of heart. And I'm not saying that to be mean." He added quickly when the Howling Storm's hazel eyes flashed briefly, "Even after all of that, you're willing to get up again and start over. It takes a great amount of courage and strength to do that."

"But we lost." Xhostam said in something reminiscent of a whine.

"To quote Confucius: 'Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.'" Tobias stated and sat down again, motioning for the other two to do so. The noise from the Mipedian Cafeteria obscured their conversation from curious ears, "So, do you and the Organization have a plan?"

"Not really, no." Xilvin responded, "We just woke up and they're not really sure they want to dive back into a battle with our Heartless so quickly." He shuddered, "They…scare me. I can say that with all honesty."

Xhostam's face was bleached of color and he was staring blankly at the table, "I don't know what I would have done if Demyx hadn't woken me up." He closed his pale, violet-blue eyes, "I was so close to giving up…so close to Fading…"

"Enough of that sort of talk." Tobias slapped a hand on the table top, "What are you going to do?"

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do?" Tobias repeated, "You lost to your Heartless but you need to defeat them in order to regain your hearts. You're not strong enough to do that so I'm asking you: what are you going to do about it?"

Xilvin's face was his usual mask of indifference and Xhostam was looking blankly at his own gloved hands. Normally, any teenager's answer to getting stronger would be training. But they didn't have time to train. There had to be another way. Creatures in Perim got stronger all the time but no one ever saw them doing it. The Creatures were secretive and full of pride; everything they discovered was their secret and they did their best to keep it to themselves. If another Creature found out, they would make every attempt to steal it. But the two Nobodies didn't have the resources that Creatures had; Mugics, Battlegear, and inventors like Ulmar.

All they had was each other.

"How about fighting together?" Tobias said as though he'd read their minds, "Instead of just you two? You are an Organization of thirteen members, are you not? Then fight as thirteen, not as two."

"He has a point." All three of them jumped and looked around at Axel who was leaning against the wall, "Trouble with that theory is there aren't thirteen members anymore. There are only…" He held up some fingers and started counting under his breath, "Eight of us, plus those two which makes ten."

"Where are the rest of you?" Tobias asked curiously, eyes narrowing behind his glasses.

"There was a little rebellion that had to be squashed and—." Axel stopped himself, grinning, "Oooo-hoo-hooo. You almost got me." He shook a finger at the oldest Khaos brother, "Nah-uh. No secrets outta me. Besides, The Superior's too pissed to come here himself so that leaves nine."

"Nine's more than enough to take those maggots down." Xilvin said but his voice was so flat it was almost as though he didn't care. Still, when the other three glanced at him there was a fierce light burning in his hazel eyes that made the violet checkmarks beneath them look all the more darker.

"Is there anyway you can get a message to the other members?" Xhostam asked, "Where are they anyway?"

"Doesn't matter where they are," Axel beckoned and the three followed. When they entered the empty Danian Cafeteria, he held his hand out and a white-suited Dusk spun into existence, "We'll find them." He crouched down and, after digging around in his pockets for a moment or two, carefully placed a folded piece of paper in the Ducks' open mouth. The mouth snapped shut and the zipper like teeth closed, sealing the paper inside, "The World That Never Was. The Superior. Make it fast." Axel muttered and stood. The Dusk bent over itself and vanished.

"You guys already planned that out!" Xhostam pointed an accusing finger at the Flurry of the Dancing Flames who shrugged nonchalantly, "You already knew what you wanted to do! Why'd you lead us on like that!?"

"Aw, get over it." Axel scoffed, crossing his arms, "You and I both know that you're not really pissed at me." He cocked a bright red eyebrow, "In fact, you're relieved that we're all finally agreeing on something, aren't you?"

Xhostam cast a sideways glance at Xilvin but the Howling Storm was looking elsewhere. With a huff, Number XV let his arm swing down to his side and scowled at Number VIII, "Yeah, whatever."

"So now what do we do?" Xilvin asked.

"We wait." Came the reply and Tobias shook his head, turning his eyes towards the ceiling.

"You are a cliché lot, aren't you?" The oldest Khaos brother muttered to himself.

But waiting had become a bane.

For two days, Xilvin and Xhostam remained locked in the Cafeteria with the Khaos siblings, staff, and visiting teenagers. The thing about teenagers was that when you kept them in one place too long, they tended to get a little cranky. Shouting matches were not unheard of.

The Howling Storm and the Winged Slayer were not allowed to leave; whether to go Heartless hunting or check the status of the hole. Sometimes Axel stayed behind but more often than not he was out with Roxas and the others.

But, finally, after three days, something happened.

Xilvin and Xhostam were sitting in the Mipedian Cafeteria, feeling very dull and bored as they watched Nick and Soyokaze get into a spat, when there was the familiar sound of a Passage of Darkness popping into existence. Everyone had gotten use to the sound by now so no one paid it any mind until a mocking voice sneered,

"So, those are the newbies, huh? Kind of scrawny looking weaklings, aren't they?"

The two Nobodies were on their feet and spinning to face whoever it was, ready to fight. But then they froze. Standing before them were three figures in the black Organization cloaks, all with their hoods pushed back and watching the two with interest.

"Numbers XIV and XV," A man with silver-blue hair spoke and his voice sent a tremor down Xhostam's spine, "Where are Luxord and the others?"

"Heartless hunting." Xilvin replied flatly, "And you seem to know us but we don't know you. So tell us." The man's icey, yellow eyes narrowed and the Howling Storm tilted his chin up.

"Easy, Saix," Rumbled a deep voiced Nobody. His hair was in long dreadlocks and there were huge sideburns on his jaw. His wide shoulders and constant frown made for a very intimidating appearance.

"Number II, Xigbar, the Freeshooter!" The mocking voice came again and the two Nobodies looked around at the third man. His hair was dark brown, almost black, and streaked with silver, a jagged scar traced itself from the left corner of him mouth and down his chin, and his right eye was covered in an eye patch, the left was a teasing goldenrod yellow, "And this is Number III, Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer!" He indicated the man with the huge sideburns, "And Number VII, Saix, the Luna Diviner."

"Let's get out of here." Xilvin muttered, catching the stares of the humans, "Follow me." He led Xhostam, Saix, Xigbar, and Xaldin out of the Mipedian Cafeteria and into the UnderWorld one. The Howling Storm fell into a seat and ran a hand through his spiky hair with a blank expression.

"Heeeyyyyy! It's the higher up's!" Axel laughed, suddenly sweeping out of a Passage of Darkness followed by a panicked looking Demyx, an indifferent Luxord, and a battle worn Roxas, "Took you long enough to get here, didn't it!?"

"The Superior was reluctant to respond to your message at all." Saix growled, the ends of his hair seeming to stand on end, "It is not our problem that you failed."

"We failed!?" Roxas snapped, brandishing Oblivion, neon blue eyes glaring, "I told you that you were using too much power, that it was too dangerous, but you didn't listen! They," He pointed the Keyblade at Xilvin and Xhostam, who flinched as the weapon swung in their direction, "Are everyone's problem! That's why we're here!"

Xigbar chuckled darkly, "Mmm-hhmmm…you made Roxas angry. That's a feat."

"Enough." Saix growled, hair standing on end even more, "Stop your bickering. We're here, your request was satisfied." He turned to Axel, "Now, explain the situation in detail."

It took all of half and hour to explain everything to the three Nobodies. Xigbar seemed to think the whole affair was going to be a lot of fun because his obnoxious, cocky sneer stayed on his face the whole time. Xhostam decided he didn't like the Freeshooter.

"This…hole." Xaldin spoke in his rumbling tones, "It needs to be closed before we can unite the Heartless and Nobodies. Odium and Lord Nameless need their supply of reinforcements cut off. This will also carve out a rather hefty chunk of their powers."

"Don't you think we've been trying that?" Demyx muttered, "But every time we try those stupid Heartless swarm us and we can't."

"But now we can outnumber them!' Xigbar was already on his feet, strange, spiked guns hefted over his shoulders.

Xilvin raised an eyebrow at him, "I don't think 'outnumbering' was the word you were looking for."

"I said ENOUGH!" Saix's eyes glowed and his hair stood completely on end. White energy pulsated around his form, outlining him in cold light, "The Superior wants this matter dealt with as swiftly as possible! And that means YOU DO NOT BICKER OVER PETTY MATTERS AND WASTE OUR TIME!" A bit of dust trickled from the ceiling as Saix's booming words faded and he glared at the other Organization members. Then he spoke in a softer voice, his eyes fading back to their normal yellow, and his hair falling back to either side of his face, "We move now."

Xilvin and Xhostam stood up with the rest of the remaining Organization XIII members but strong hands on their shoulders pressed them back into their seats.

"No." Xaldin stated, "You two are staying here." He turned and grabbed the back of Axel's cloak, dragging him away from the Passage of Darkness Saix had generated, "And you are staying here with them."

"Wha—but, hey!" Axel protested, jerking himself out of the Whirlwind Lancer's grip, "Why me!? Demyx doesn't even fight!" He pointed an accusing finger at the Melodious Nocturne but Demyx blushed and ducked into the Passage of Darkness.

"The Superior wants someone guarding them." Xaldin replied shortly, eyes narrowing dangerously, "He wants to know if a Nobody and a Heartless really can become one again." And he disappeared into the Passage of Darkness after his fellows.

"You mean…there's no guarantee?" Xhostam whimpered, "There was never a…a concrete…solid bit of…of proof we could become whole again?"

"That's right." Axel snorted, crossing his arms over his chest, "A certain couple of people who aren't with us anymore used to think that Nobodies are simply doomed to Fade back into the darkness." His vibrant green eyes glinted and he unconsciously rubbed one of the triangular marks on his cheeks with a thumb, "Eventually, those thoughts drove them into a rebellion."

"Tell us what happened, Axel." Xilvin's voice was flat and his face was the usual mask of indifference but the light in his hazel eyes told otherwise. Axel sighed heavily and sat down.

"Don't repeat anything you hear." The Flurry of the Dancing Flames growled, "Or I'll hunt you down and burn you into a world of hurt." When both Nobodies nodded fervent agreements, he settled back in his chair and tilted his face towards the ceiling, "Almost a year ago, there was a boy who lost his heart. This boy was Sora, the Keyblade Master. When he turned into a Heartless, he left a Nobody behind. Roxas. But something weird happened. Sora pulled himself back out of the darkness and became human again…without his Nobody."

"Roxas has no idea." Xhostam tossed his head, trying to get his hair out of his face, "He always said he thought you guys were hiding something from him."

"He can't know." Axel was looking at the floor now, "The hearts that the Keyblade releases from darkness go to Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of All Worlds. The Superior believes if we can gather enough hearts, we'll be able to find our own. Eventually."

"Where's Sora?" Xilvin put his chin in his hands, "And what's this have to do with your little rebellion?"

"Sora found them first." Axel continued, turning his back on the Howling Storm and the Winged Slayer, "He was lured into Castle Oblivion by Marluxia and his gang; they were the ones planning on overthrowing the Organization but they needed Sora's power to do it. So they tricked him."

"How?" Xhostam was totally into the story, leaning forward on the table and everything.

"There is a Nobody who isn't part of the Organization named Naminé. Naminé, got it memorized?" Axel tapped a finger to his temple as a reflex, "Naminé had power over Sora's memories and Marluxia forced her to rearrange Sora's memories in away that was…favorable to him." The Flurry of the Dancing Flames, sank over in his chair, putting his forehead into the palms of his gloved hands, "I pretended to be on their side but was really helping the Superior eradicate them. Anyway, Sora got rid of Marluxia alright but his memories were all messed up. A train wreck. Naminé locked him in a deep slumber in order to fix what she'd broken."

There was a deep, heavy silence and then Xhostam said in a soft and tentative voice, "You don't want Sora to wake up." Axel jerked and spun around and Xilvin's eyes widened as he stared at Number XV, "W-well I…" Xhostam swallowed, "Roxas is Sora's Nobody, right? S-so if Sora wakes up and f-finds Roxas then him and Roxas are gonna m-merge or whatever." The Winged Slayer lowered his head and his pale, blue-purple eyes flashed from beneath his shaggy locks, "I…I mean…he's…your friend…right?"

Axel stared at Xhostam, a mixture of emotions contorting his face into such a heart-wrenching expression that Xilvin wondered for a moment if Axel even believed his own words. Then the look vanished and those cold green eyes were staring the two of them down.

"Doesn't matter what I want." He grumbled, "Just don't…repeat what you heard." Number VIII stood up and waved his hand, summoning a Passage of Darkness.

"Where are you going?" Xilvin got to his feet as well, blinking at him.

"Heartless Hunting," The Flurry of the Dancing Flames grinned, "Care to join me?"

Bad Axel, bad! You're breaking the rules! Then again, since when has Axel been one to follow rules?

Anyway, sorry it's taking me so long to update but I have been kind of busy and at a loss of how to push this towards the end. Eh, this story has taken a mind of its own. I never intended to have the rest of the Organization show up. Ah well, it was the only way, I suppose (shrugs).

So thanks for sticking around, guys! Please keep reviewing; it's inspirational! I'll see you in the next update! Toodles!