Rhiannon: So... here's the next one like I promised

-)-

Chapter 23—Wilted Flowers

Marluxia sighed under his breath when he realized that no one was coming to hurt his flowers. He looked up at them and smiled brightly.

"You're almost ready." He stretched his arms out and called to Naminè.

She appeared though a portal of darkness and looked over at him idly. "You called?"

"Everything is almost ready. Axel is way more powerful then Zexion so I'm sure that Sora will make it here." He seemed almost gleeful as he looked over at her.

"Maybe…" She sighed deeply as she looked over at the pods.

"Naminè… what is it that you want? More then anything else?"

"To merge… back into who I am."

"That will happen soon enough." The pink haired nobody walked over to the large chair in the corner of the room and sat down slowly.

"What do you want Marluxia?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know." He admitted quietly. "I think I almost would prefer to die at this point." He smiled at her. "Nobodies don't deserve to exist… Isn't that what DiZ always says?"

"Maybe." She sighed softly and then looked at him sadly. "I don't want you to die."

"That's not your choice." He whispered and she nodded because she knew. He brushed his pink hair off his shoulder and smiled at her brightly, even though it was false, she felt slightly warmed by it. Marluxia and Axel were the first people to treat her like she was real. And she would cherish that. Always. "Don't worry… my death… will not be in vain. Now please… go and water my poor little flower. I think it's lacking."

She nodded and turned, a portal appearing before her. "What if I die in all this?"

"It's your choice of if you die Naminè… No one else's."

-)-

"Someone needs to go back." It was Sora who whispered those fateful words as he grasped the charred railing of the steps, head down. What he'd done for Roxas and Axel and Demyx made him happy but his heart still hurt for Riku and the others.

"We're so close." Demyx argued.

"Look at how many of us are here! Three upstairs and then the six of us here! Do you realize how many people that is gone from the patrol!" Sora asked but it was all a lie inside his head, he didn't want to risk them. He looked up into the cool eyes of Roxas and saw that the former nobody saw right through him.

"We'll divide." Roxas stated firmly. "Demyx, Axel and I will go back. We'll be of little use to you in the state we are now, not knowing our limits. After all, we may not be as powerful as we once were and we no longer have our powers of darkness which we have relied on for so long."

"He's right." Axel admitted grudgingly. "We're of no use to you here."

"All… all right." Sora slowly released the railing and turned to face them. "You should be able to contact Yuffie… she'll get you back. Once we get Riku, Leon and Kairi we'll come back. It'll probably take all of us to defeat Xemnas."

"As well protected as The Castle That Never Was is, I don't doubt it." Axel rubbed the side of his nose. "We'll be training."

"Yeah, just remember that you now attract heartless just like the rest of us saps." Cloud teased lightly before the group parted ways into groups of three.

Sora turned back to the steps with a determined look on his face and then looked up towards the top of the steps. "Race you to the top?" He let a small grin flicker across his lips.

"Maybe running isn't in your best interest?" A soft, feminine voice whispered. They three looked behind them to see a rather small, blond girl. Her eyes were a watery shade of blue and her skin was almost as pale as the white dress she wore.

"Who are you?" Sora asked softly stepping forward.

"I am Naminè, the Princess of Nothing." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I have work to do."

"What do you mean by that!" She lifted her hand and darkness wrapped around her hand.

"I think you understand more then you want to… So-ra." He flinched at the way she said his name.

I don't need you to make me worthy of SORA'S LOVE! Sora jumped and stared at her wide-eyed. That was Riku's voice that he was hearing inside his head.

"Not your head So-ra… but your heart." Naminè whispered and Sora looked down and pressed a hand to his chest.

"Ri… Riku?" He stared at her with wide eyes. "Where is he?"

She smiled at him brightly and stepped forward. "He's at the very top of the tower in the left wing of the castle. He's waiting for you, with the others."

"But they are all right… right?"

"Yes." She nodded and then slowly began to step back. "Grow strong for him Sora… I'll guide you through." Darkness appeared behind her and she stepped back through it and disappeared.

Sora stared at it wide-eyed before he ran forward only to find nothing, the portal had already dissipated.

"Should we even trust her?" Cloud suddenly spoke and Sora jumped, he'd forgotten that they were even there.

"It's so obviously a trap." Tifa muttered under her breath, crossing her powerful arms.

"I think we should… something about her… was vaguely familiar." He turned to look at his friends. "But either way, the first thing we need to do, is get up these steps… If Axel didn't truly burn the crap out of them."

"Sora?" Cloud wrapped his arm around him but he smiled at him.

"Riku and the others are here somewhere. And we're going to go and find them."

-)-

Naminè slowly watched Sora's progress through the castle. He was talented, that she would give him as she watched him defeat whatever she sent at him. She watched him through her orb with a proud smile. She would show his progress to Marluxia tomorrow, but now it was time for the tricky part.

She stole his memories of Riku. She watched through the glass as he faltered in heart and in mind. Before he shrugged and continued on. If anything, Naminè was through.

-)-

Sora stretched his arms above his head as they walked through room after room, occasionally fighting a random heartless or nobody. He was about to approached the next door when a bone deep shudder went through him. Something felt wrong, like he was about to forget something important. He shrugged and pushed open the door and entered the next room, Tifa and Cloud behind him.

"Sora?" He turned to look at the blond man and cocked his head to the side.

"Is there a problem?" He lifted a chocolate eyebrow.

"Not really… it just feels like a devil went under." Cloud muttered under his breath.

"What?" Sora turned to look at him fully.

"I'm… not quite sure how to explain it…"

"I think it's just the Castle getting to us." Tifa murmured rubbing her gloves hands up and down her bare arms. "The sooner we find Riku, Leon and Kairi the better." She walked ahead of the two men and tested the next door. Cloud nodded in agreement and followed but Sora didn't move.

"Ri…ku?" He tested the word in his mouth. If felt familiar like he'd said it a thousand times before and yet… it felt so foreign.

"Problem?" Cloud asked as Tifa yanked open the doors.

"Who is Riku?"

The doors gave a resounding slam as Tifa released them and wiped around so fast that her hair snapped loudly. She walked over to him and pressed her hand to his forehead.

"You're joking right? You know who Riku Shiren is? Don't you?" Her words were a hurried blur that served only to confuse the young keyblade master.

"Who? What? I'm sorry Tifa but I have no idea of who… or what you're talking about." Sora murmured as he leaned away from her.

"He's… you freaking best friend! How could you just up and forget him!" She cried shaking him and Sora winced at tight grip before Cloud managed to pry her off.

"Maybe it's something about the room. Just… let's keep going all right? I'm not sure I like staying in one place for too long." The blond murmured and both of them nodded their assent and they set off again, Sora rubbing his soon to be bruised arms as he followed.

-)-

Marluxia looked to the figure of Riku and smiled quite confidently to himself. Sora was in the first hurdle and Riku had survived his own test. He placed his hand on the pod.

"Soon… soon you will extract revenge of thousands. And save countless others." He slowly stepped back. "And so much more."

"Not if Sora doesn't remember him." Naminè murmured and he turned to watch as she stepped out of a portal. "I've completely stolen his memories of Riku."

"He will remember."

"Maybe you are overconfident of his abilities." She pushed blond hair behind her ears.

"Trust me… Everything is going according to plan."

-)-

Rhiannon: So... that was the ned of that one...