Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Namine, nor any other related materials, they are copyrighted by Square Enix, and to my knowledge Tetsuya Nomura. I do however own Razyn, Arxzyn, 'Blasphemy,' and, as far as I know, the concept of Neo-Nobodies.

"Arxzyn."

"Arxzyn!"

"Come on, we can tell you're awake!"

Arxzyn opened his eyes. Staring back at him were two pairs of eyes, one pair blue and one pair brown. These eyes belonged to two young adults. The boy had blue hair, the girl had blond hair, and they both wore small smiles. The boy on Arxzyn's right had his hand on the Ex-Virtuous Crusader's shoulder, while the girl on his left had her hand on his chest.

"Good. I was getting worried for a second there." The girl stated.

Arxzyn sat up slowly. He looked around the valley in which he, the now-kneeling boy, and his blond companion resided. It was a wide valley, with grass flowing in the breeze and a dirt road just ahead of his feet. Much to his chagrin, his sword was nowhere to be seen.

"Razyn. Namine:" Arxzyn mumbled as his gaze swept across the two friends. At his drawling, their expressions changed from relief to curiosity.

"Something wrong, Arxzyn?" Razyn asked. Not only did he look normal again, but he didn't smell like darkness anymore, much to Arxzyn's relief. "You look like you haven't seen us in months."

"Yeah something wrong?" Namine asked. Arxzyn looked at her, and he could tell that the darkness and Pride no longer held her. She was back to her original, pure self.

Arxzyn looked between them both, to the road ahead. "No," He muttered as he stood up. "It's nothing." He stretched shortly before beckoning for his allies to follow as he walked to the Crux Road.

"Ah! Wait!" Razyn exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet, Namine (although more gracefully) followed suit. They stopped behind him and held out their hands.

Arxzyn turned back to the two friends and jumped back a little when he noticed what they were both presenting. Razyn was holding a curved dagger while Namine was holding a gold necklace. He accepted the gifts and examined them closely. The dagger was his own; an altered version of the Crescent Jackknife, and the necklace was the same one he found in Castle Oblivion. Arxzyn looked up from the presents, clearly confused.

"You fainted." Namine explained. She gestured to the items. "And these were a couple of feet away from you."

"Oh." Arxzyn dumbly muttered. He looked down at the knife he held firmly in one hand. He flicked his wrist and it turned into a pair of shades. "Yes." He quietly cheered as he held his shades into the air. He slowly unfolded them and brought them back onto his face with a sigh.

"Didn't you notice?" Razyn asked. "That you weren't wearing your sunglasses, I mean."

Arxzyn turned to Razyn and shrugged. "They filter sunlight, yes. But they don't darken anything." Arxzyn looked up at the cloudy sky. "They are very comfortable and it isn't that bright, so..." He looked back to Namine and Razyn. Razyn seemed satisfied with his answer, but Namine seemed troubled. "Something wrong, Namine?"

"Well, it's just that necklace." She replied. "What is it exactly? I was wondering if you knew."

"Nn?" Arxzyn held the necklace higher to see it more clearly. "Well, you see this thing-"

"Oh, I know that!" Razyn interrupted. "I almost didn't recognize it until you held it up like that." Namine and Arxzyn both turned to Razyn as he stared at the necklace. "Can I have it?" He asked. Without a word, Arxzyn gave the trinket to him. Razyn nodded while he inspected the gold links. "Yeah, this is it."

Namine leaned in and asked, "What is it?" Arxzyn leaned to the side to try to maintain his view.

Razyn smiled and held up the object, as everybody fixed their gaze upon it. "This was a present from one of my seniors to his crush." He explained. "Honestly, I'm surprised that you have it. He was going to use this to try and take her heart with a proposal." Razyn chuckled and placed the trinket in Arxzyn's still open hands. "Or rather, convince her to take his heart."

"How romantic. It must have been very important to him." Namine murmured. She turned to Razyn with worry in her features.

Razyn's smile widened a little before he threw his arm around Namine's shoulder. "Oh, don't worry about him. I know for a fact that he and his girlfriend are happily living together as we speak."

Namine paused before she smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

Arxzyn, still holding the treasure, cleared his throat. Both of his comrades looked back at him. "What should we do with it, then?"

Razyn and Namine gave each other a look. Razyn removed his arm from Namine and rubbed his chin. "Well why don't we give it to them as a wedding gift?" He suggested.

Namine and Arxzyn glanced at each other, apparently skeptical of Razyn's sanity. "...How would we do that?" Arxzyn questioned.

Razyn crossed his arms and scoffed. "'How would we do that.' He says." He lowered his arms and held his left hand out to Namine. "Namine could you please explain the finer points of the Crossroads of Fate?" He said.

A light blush crossed her face as both boys fixed their gaze on the Neo-Nobody. "Um well... The crossroads connect all worlds... in a way." She paused, visibly trying to think of the best way to explain the theory she herself barely understood. "I'm not exactly sure, but from what your boss tried to teach you-"

"Uh, you mean taught me." Razyn interjected.

Arxzyn turned his head to Razyn and said, "Considering you need her to explain, I think it's safe to say he tried without success." He returned his attention back to Namine. "Please, continue."

Namine nodded and continued with her explanation. "From what your boss tried to teach you, it goes something like this: the crossroads - which I call the Crux Road - connect every world. in a way."

Arxzyn cocked and eyebrow. "What do you mean, in a way?" He questioned.

"Well, it's kind of complicated." Namine responded. She started walking towards the road and motioned for the others to follow. She held her hands behind her back as she strolled through the emerald grass to the dirt path. When all three companions were standing in the heart of the road, she continued. "Using this road, anyone can travel - albeit slowly - to any realm they want. Realm of Light, Realm of Darkness, Realm of Twilight, Realm of Nothing, and a couple of others. Once they arrive at a realm, they can travel to any specific world within that realm."

"I still don't get it." Arxzyn stated.

"Join the club." Razyn muttered as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Arxzyn hushed Razyn as Namine resumed. "I think what Razyn was getting at was that we could get back to Garret by using the Crux Road."

Razyn stuck out his lip and nodded. "That was the gist of it. I just didn't trust my own knowledge, so I wasn't sure."

Arxzyn nodded. He looked at the necklace once more before stowing it into one of his pockets. He looked back to Namine, who was trying to keep the wind from messing with her hair. "Which way should we go?" He asked her.

She looked up at him, then down both sides of the road. She pointed to her left (Razyn and Arxzyn's right) and nodded. "That way." Her companions looked to where she was pointing. "The Realm of Twilight."

At the thought of drawing their adventure to a close, all three travelers felt their pulses quicken. They glanced at each other. Razyn gave a short laugh. Namine released a gentle sigh. Arxzyn flashed a happy grin. Each nodded and turned to march to their goal.

"Hey, Arxzyn?" Namine called.

Arxzyn stopped walking and turned around, about to question his smaller ally.

Before he could however, he felt a delicate pair of arms wrap around his midsection as he was pulled into a hug. He held his arms up at shoulder length, obviously stunned by Namine's action. Her light moan as she nuzzled his chest only worsened the situation. He could feel his cheeks heating up fast. He tried looking to Razyn for support; only find his Other was watching the spectacle with a warm smile.

"Thank you Arxzyn." Namine said, almost making the Ex-Virtuous Crusader flinch. "For everything you did for us. You sacrificed so much, just to give Razyn and me a new life. Without you, I- I can't even begin to imagine what things would be like." She said all of this while still holding her head to his chest.

Arxzyn blinked, then lowered his arms to her upper back and returned her embrace. "It was nothing." He replied. "I was just doing my duty as a Paladin and... a friend." The end of his response came out quieter than he intended, but just loud enough so Namine could hear.

Namine pulled away from Arxzyn. "I'm glad," She said before turning to Razyn, "That I have such good friends." Namine walked away from her two friends and began down the Crux Road.

Razyn stepped next to Arxzyn. They glanced at each other. Razyn produced a small package from his pocket. "Here." He handed it to Arxzyn. "That is a gift from the boss. He said to give it to you when you felt the love you fought so hard to protect. I would hug you too, but the resulting concussion wouldn't be worth it. After you play with it a bit, hurry and catch up, alright?" With that said, Razyn ran to catch up with Namine while calling out for her to slow down.

Arxzyn looked down at the leather-wrapped object. He untied the leather and let it fall to the dirt, revealing its treasure. He held the prize in one hand. It felt familiar. He held it in one hand and reached forward. He swung it down and behind himself. When it reached the end of its arc, the cylindrical gift was attached to a long silver blade. Arxzyn smiled and held it over his shoulder as he ran to catch up with his friends.

The three began their long journey home together. While walking, the three engaged in idle chit-chat to pass the time. Hours would pass by, and boredom never seemed to ensnare the three.

Occasionally, Razyn would describe various rogue tactics such as sneaking about and using sleights of hand. Other times, Namine would educate both of her confidants on the various philosophies of the self-taught arts. At nights, when the stars were shining down on his tiny sect, Arxzyn recited interesting passages from ancient scriptures.

As the days passed, all three wayfarers sometimes found themselves laughing as they walked along together, remembering how happy just being in each others company made them.

Anything I need is right here. You don't have to trouble yourself.

A/N

Wow. This story was supposed to be over two chapters ago. Oh well~

This story was actually going to be completely different. No Arxzyn. No Crux Road. No Ax Crazy Namine. None of that. Oh and it was supposed to be very idealistic. Yeah, what happened to the idealism? It kinda flew off in, what? The second chap? More like the first, really, there being a prologue and all...

But I digress. Like I said, this story marks the beginning of the 'Collette Chronicles' my first project ever. As I have said in the past, I will finish it.

I'll see you next time.

-qinop a.k.a James Collette