Axille was nowhere to be found.
Roxas had been the first out of the Hall of Empty Melodies to find her—to no avail! The Heartless lunged at him from all corners and it was all the Key of Destiny could do to not get struck down.
Xiyak, Leixym, Kyrox, and Demyx tried to keep up, but usually they fell behind to stave off the Heartless and clear Roxas' path. No one complained or argued as they fought their way through their besieged home, apart from spitting insults to the Heartless as they did combat.
They fought bravely, until they found they could break through no farther; the sea of Heartless was just too much to fight off.
"Out of my way!" Roxas shouted defiantly, brandishing his Keyblade.
"Back off!" Demyx added, strumming a few quick notes on his guitar. Water-clones sprang up and formed a defensive wall in front of the Nobodies, preparing for the storm to break.
...but it didn't.
At a silent signal from somewhere, the Heartless stopped flashing their evil yellow eyes and retreated, receding into the walls, the floors, and back the way they had come.
Confused, Demyx dropped the water-clones and the now lifeless water slopped harmlessly to the floor, where it soaked into the carpet and stayed there.
"...what?" Leixym asked, putting her sword away. She had been so ready for a fight...did they seriously just win without lifting a finger?
"Something's not right." Xiyak said, dismissing her weapon and looking at them. "I have a bad feeling that this is just the beginning."
"The beginning of something far worse than a siege." Kyrox remarked.
"Well, whatever." Roxas muttered, "Axille's still in danger. I say we take the time we have to find her."
"Indeed." a soft voice said. The Nobodies looked around to see a portal opening up and, after a moment of tense silence, Amenxtthe, Xisel, Syaxsal, and Knexedy appeared.
"Hey," Leixym said, surprised, "we haven't seen you for a while."
"Heartless." Amenxtthe said stiffly, "We cannot exactly rush around gossiping while we are being attacked."
"True."
Xiyak walked forward, her dark orange eyes glowing, "Let me guess...sudden Heartless disappearance?"
"Yeah." Knexedy nodded, her blue eyes clouded with worry, "I can't explain it...Heartless are usually not as docile as that, especially when they're just about to attack. I can't help but wonder who would have the power to control this many Heartless, and control them without their control breaking."
"Someone dangerous, that's who." Demyx said.
"But wait," Amenxtthe said suddenly, "what's this about finding Axille? Where did she go?"
Roxas sighed.
"We don't know. Axel blew up at her and she ran off...we've been trying to find her, but it's like she vanished or something." Leixym said.
"Vanished...or perhaps, maybe, kidnapped?" Kyrox asked.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Kidnapped?" Roxas echoed, his eyes narrowed in confusion, "Who would want to kidnap her?"
"The same person who tried to kill her. The person who tried to kill us?" Kyrox said.
Everyone still looked disbelieving. Surely Axille had just run off and hidden herself away somewhere?
"All I am saying is, this entire series of events doesn't add up, without some kind of plot. I mean, think about it for a second. Axel gets furious at Axille after the Veil Lizard tries to kill her, Axille runs off, and almost right after that the Heartless disappear." Kyrox summarized.
"Now that you mention it...it does seem sort of iffy." Demyx said, "You're right, Kyrox. As soon as we lost her, the Heartless retreated...something bad's about to happen."
Roxas' blue eyes blazed as he growled, "Then we have to find her before it does."
"Where do you propose we look, XIII?" Kyrox asked, "You're asking nine people to search a castle this big?"
"No, I'm not." Roxas said icily, "I'm telling you to."
Without waiting for another response, Roxas turned around and stormed off into a portal, leaving his eight companions in the hall.
"...can't argue with that." Leixym reasoned, "After all, he is superior to us."
She passed a glance to Demyx and said, "Well, most of us."
Demyx shrugged, "He's right; we have to go after her."
"Then let's go." Amenxtthe said, turning around and leaving to a different part of the castle.
"I just pray we aren't too late." Xisel sighed.
Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, Zexion, Vexen, and Lexaeus, who up until now had been shut up in the laboratory, surfaced to seek out their Superior. They had some very interesting news to share.
"Come, hurry up." Vexen snapped as they hurried through their abode, "I'll not risk a portal in the present state of things."
"Then we had better find the Superior soon," Zexion said grimly, "look ahead."
They did, and they stopped dead at the horrific sight that greeted them.
"Luxord!" Larxene snapped at the Gambler, who was emerging from a corridor, looking haggard and tired.
"Larxene." the tenth member said.
"Drop the righteous act, Luxord. The Heartless are falling back, and I don't know where the hell Xemnas has gotten to!"
Luxord shook his head and massaged his goatee, looking at the fierce Nymph before him.
"But surely if the Heartless are falling back, that means we've won, yes?" he asked peaceably.
"Don't tell me you can't see it!" Larxene exclaimed, "Look, the Heartless were ten times stronger than usual, right? Why do they choose now to retreat, when they've just about wiped us out? Something's screwy here, and I have a hunch Xemnas might be involved."
Luxord sighed, "And why, pray tell, do you suspect foul play at the hands of our Superior?"
"He hasn't been around all day." Larxene pointed out, "Even though his Organization is at risk of being annihilated, he isn't around to defend it."
"Well in his defense," Luxord said, "he does have fourteen more Nobodies he can dispose of...with apparent ease. Have you heard? Axille has gone missing as well. I fear the worst, that she has been eliminated...such a shame too, I actually rather liked her."
"Whatever. She was too young and too weak to do what she had to. Better her to be dead than anyone else." Larxene said irritably, angry that Luxord had a point. Xemnas did have a whole new Organization at his defense, why would he care?
Luxord coughed and waved his hand, dismissing the current topic. "C'est la vie. Now, I think that, in our moment of respite, we should go and locate everyone else. If the Heartless are planning a second attack, it would probably be best to have the whole Organization fighting as a group, instead of us all over the place attacking single-handedly."
"Good idea." Larxene said grudgingly. She opened a portal and the two of them went through it, off to gather their forces.
A black shape loomed in the staircase ahead of the three intellectuals stuck in the basement. Immediately Zexion ran a scan with his current Lexicon of choice—conveniently enough, Dear Diary.
"This is strange." the youth muttered as he stepped back, allowing the scanner to survey the creature as a whole. "It is a Heartless, indefinitely, but it doesn't have a specific class...it isn't a Pureblood, nor an Emblem...but these readings are definitely Heartless."
"What is it?" Vexen asked, coming over to read the report.
"It...it doesn't have a name, either. But it seems to be the main source of all of the Heartless in the castle. See, look there-!" Zexion exclaimed, pointing to something on-screen.
Something beeped on the computer and an infrared video popped up, showing a Dustflier pulling itself out of the black mass and disappearing.
"It is somehow creating all of the Heartless...but that's impossible! Surely no one Heartless has the power to produce more, and more of every single species, no less?" the Schemer wondered.
His attention was once more drawn to the computer screen. The red heat detectors were turning blue, and he realized the creature must be going to sleep.
"Forget that for a moment." Vexen said, "Obviously this thing is an unknown threat, and should be treated as such. I do not think it has spotted or noticed us, but just in case, we should keep well away until we come upon a solution to eradicate it."
"Sit back and do nothing? We have a chance to take it out, now that it's sleeping, and that's your plan?" Zexion asked.
"For now." Vexen answered, "That is, unless you wish to engage it by yourself? I assure you, I will not be risking my safety on that monstrosity when it awakens. And believe me, the second it senses you attacking, it will wake up. But if you wish to end your existence here, be my guest."
He stepped back and motioned for Zexion to attack, but the slate-haired teen stood rooted to the spot, glaring at his mentor with undisguised spite.
"I thought so." Vexen said triumphantly, "Now maybe you will obey my orders and get back?"
"Maybe I will." Zexion muttered under his breath, too quiet for anyone but him to hear.
The three Nobodies retreated until they were at a safe distance from the unknown threat, and they sat down to wait. For someone to come after them, or for the thing to move on.
"Wait a minute, this...this isn't right." Roxas said confusedly, looking around. He had intended for his portal to take him to his and Axille's room, not the Altar of Naught!
"This isn't right." he muttered as he opened another portal, this time his entire being focused on going back to their room. That was the obvious place for a scared little kid to hide in, he realized, straight home.
"The portals aren't working!" Leixym exclaimed as, for the fifth time that day, her wayward corridors brought her to the last she expected to be—back in the Hall of Empty Melodies.
"Yeah they aren't." Roxas' voice came from somewhere behind her. She whirled around to see the Key of Destiny stalking from a corridor, obvious frustration on his face. "I've tried going all over the place, but it's always the last place I think of that I'm sent to!"
"Same here. I've been trying to get to Havoc's Divide for like, thirty minutes, but I'm always thrown someplace else." Leixym said.
"What do you think is going on?" another voice asked. The young Nobodies looked around to see Luxord and Larxene approaching, another dark corridor fading into the background.
"Something bad, no doubt."
This time it was Axbrem, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Anix, Syaxsal, and Knexedy who appeared, each of them popping out of a corridor in random parts of the room. It was Xaldin who had spoken.
"This is so weird!" Knexedy exclaimed as she raised her hand to form another corridor. The black wisps of smoke appeared, then faded almost in the same instance. She tried again, and even less of a corridor popped up; just as before, the smoke didn't last for long. "The corridors aren't working!"
"Yeah," Xigbar said, "first they went haywire when they almost dropped me off the side of the castle, but now they just aren't appearing at all. Wonder what's up?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Saix sighed, "Whoever caused this disruption in the routine has somehow found a way to disable the corridors. What I want to know is, why do they all seem to be taking us here, of all places?"
"That's it!"
They all looked around to Axbrem, who was standing up straight, her eyes wide.
"What's it, Ax?" Leixym asked him.
"Yes, do enlighten us." Xaldin said drily.
"Well, it's obvious isn't it?" Axbrem asked. When she continued to receive weird glares, she went on.
"I mean...all of our portals aren't working right, right? And in the end, they all took us here. So, that means that everyone else's portals are likely to take them here..."
Knexedy was catching on fast.
"Ohh, right! So that means, I'm guessing, that when everyone else gets here..." she continued.
"Something tells me this room's important." Axbrem said, "Something tells me that, if the final conflict between us and whoever is behind all of this is going to happen, this is where it's going to happen."