"No, Axel has not returned from his mission. He should have been back hours ago. Perhaps he met with foul play…" Saïx seemed either concerned or distracted. Maybe both? "I will be checking on him shortly. You may retire to your room." Saïx lifted up his head to stare above him, indicating the end of the conversation.

Roxas hung his head and plodded back to the hallway. There he met Xion and gave her the news. Hearts (or rather, non-hearts) heavy, the two went to their rooms to try to sleep.

~\*/~

Demyx roamed through the wild world of Wonderland, killing time before his return to the castle. Maybe if I wait an hour or so, Larxene will be asleep, and then she'll forget all about wanting to kill me! Heh… Probably not… Well, a Nobody can hope, can't he?

On his way, he met kind flowers, mean flowers, and even a talking doorknob! The tonic he'd been given had shrunk him down the size of a mouse! Demyx briefly wondered what Roxas would do in this situation before he became distracted by a caterpillar that was making odd circles of air. "Whoa! What are you?"

The caterpillar looked down the nose at him and sniffed. "Best be on now before the Queen gets you. She doesn't like your kind… not that she prefers any kind…" The caterpillar waved him off, preferring the silence, apparently.

Rude. Demyx rubbed his sore throat and continued down the path.

~\*/~

Saïx glanced at his notes once more. Axel had been given a double mission, the first in Wonderland and the next in Arendelle. He took off his reading glasses, tucked them into the pocket inside his coat, and pressed his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose in order to assuage his headache. Well, time for a rescue mission.

He summoned a Corridor of Darkness and stepped through it. He squinted at the bright sun. Time worked differently in most of the worlds. Perhaps the idiot just lost track of time… And yet, there was something inside of Saïx, empty shell of a being though he may be, that didn't quite believe that thought. It was… too convenient. No, Axel was missing for a different reason, perhaps one not very appealing.

Logically, Saïx knew the redhead would never run away from the Organization… at least, not as long as he still had friends there. He had been hanging around the Keybearers, Roxas and that puppet. He had even abandoned his best friend for the two of them.

But Saïx really didn't have any hard feelings about it… not at all. After all, no Nobody could truly feel. Any indication to the contrary was just a Nobody's memories of being a human rearing their head and reminding him what such emotions had felt like.

And so Saïx concluded that he didn't feel any fear or worry for the one who had been his best friend, and he certainly didn't feel betrayed that he had been passed over for new friends. Scowling purely out of habit and definitely not because of such depressing thoughts, Saïx scoured the world, starting at the odd room—but then again this was Wonderland. What wasn't odd?—first with a shrinking liquid and then after eating the growth cookie. He looked under leaves, in the tree, and in the rose bush maze. He searched the strange tea party but found nothing amiss (at least, according to what was "normal" in this world.) Any Heartless that were idiotic enough to appear in the midst of his search were utterly demolished.

With a sigh, Saïx admitted that Axel was probably not in this world. He would go on to the next one, then.

~\*/~

Demyx gasped and then covered his mouth. He ducked underneath the table, being careful not to jostle the teacups. What's Saïx doing here? Oh, man, I am SO dead meat. He's going to kill me, and then he'll turn me into a Dusk, and then he'll make me scrub all the bathroom in the whole castle in one day without any breaks!

He took a deep breath. It was going to be okay. All he had to do was not make any noise or let anyone know that he was here. It wasn't like Saïx was searching for him, right? He froze.

Oh, drat. He's looking for meeeeeeeee! It must already be time for room check. I'm—I'm going to just sneak out this way… Demyx crouched and practically crawled past the bushes. The Mad Hatter and his little mouse continued to sing their un-birthday song, completely unaware of the subterfuge. At last, he made it through the doorway of a house that was… upside-down? What?! It was at that moment that a white rabbit passed by him.

"Oh, I'm late! I'm late!" The animal paused to check his golden pocket watch and then hopped off in the opposite direction.

"Wha—?" Saïx completely forgotten, Demyx began to follow the rabbit.

Behind him, a smile appeared, and then a tail, and then paws. At the end of them stood a pink and purple striped cat. "Yes, are we safe from you, indeed? You've already brought another in to see us…" The cat then winked at the flowers, which waved back toward him.

~\*/~

Larxene shivered and added another blanket to the stack on top of her. When had the castle gotten so chilly? I bet it was Saïx, trying to gain Lord Xemnas' favor by being stingy with the utilities. She rolled her eyes. "Bootlicker."

Her nose began to tickle. "Wha—what is this?" She reared her head back and sneezed. Her eyes widened. Everything made sense now. The sore throat, the chills, the sneeze— she screamed, "We can get sick?! Why did I ever agree to be a part of this lame Organization, anyway?" With a huff, she buried her face into her pillow.

~\*/~

With a wave of his hand, Vexen closed the Corridor of Darkness and sighed, "It seems that we can get sick after all." His body ached in a weird way that almost reminded him of the way he had felt when he was about to get sick as a human.

He shook his head. "Well, no matter. It is but a temporary setback." He took a step forward, and then all the lights on his floor went out. Groaning, he groped around for a candle. It was going to be a long night of research.

~\*/~

Axel so badly wished he could take a nap. Yet that was quite out of the question as long as he had this stupid mountain to climb up. He cursed it under his breath. One step, one step, one step, one step, he coached his way up the mountain, following the snowman with tiny legs. Man, he was pathetic.

All of a sudden, Anna stopped. "This is enough for tonight, right?"

Kristoff nodded. "Let's set up camp."

"Ooh!" Olaf exclaimed. "What can I do to help?"

Axel stopped right where he was and looked around. He didn't have any tents or any food he could make… but he did know fire! He'd run out of ethers long ago, but maybe he had just enough energy left to make a flame. He reached around in the snow until he felt a few wet branches. "Uh, I could make a fire."

Kristoff patted his shoulder. "Good thinking! Olaf, can you go bring us some dry wood?"

"Sure thing! Oh, wood! Where are you?" Olaf tottered through the snow. By the time he returned, Axel had cleared a space for the fire. He soon had a roaring blaze in front of him. He collapsed onto the snow and began to soak in the heat.

He lost track of time after that. There was a jumble of noises—talking?—and movements around him, but only the fire had his attention. Before long, the soothing flames pulled him into a deep slumber.

He awoke only once to Anna giving him a bowl of something sweet and warm. Then sleep pulled at his eyelids once more.

~\*/~

Well, it had been a day. Demyx had originally planned to wait out Larxene's wrath and then RTC, but his eyes were so heavy. Surely Saïx could wait just a few more moments. Besides, if he was already looking for Demyx, then it meant the muscisian' fate was already sealed. Might as well enjoy his last few moments of life, right?

He climbed onto a humongous leaf that was noticeably higher than the one he had been on when he had met the… weird cat-thing… with the stripes… and the grin. He checked around this time for any disembodied smiles but saw nothing. Content to rest and relax, he rolled over onto his side… and promptly began coughing so hard he thought he'd lose a lung.

~\*/~

Lexaeus walked behind Xaldin, his mind wandering. Zexion had seemed off the past few days. The young Nobody had been frail in his days as a human. If it was true that Nobodies could get sick, which was the rumor floating around the castle these days, would Zexion be all right?

"Hey, get your head in the game," Xaldin said, brows furrowed.

Lexaeus took a breath and lifted up his eyes to see the Heartless before him. It peered through the bamboo. He readied his weapon to attack, but then a giant wall of water appeared. It came down in a tidal wave and smacked into all three of them with magnificent force. Lexaeus was caught off guard for only a moment before he took advantage of the situation to attack the Heartless.

At least it was helpful this time… kind of.

Xaldin groaned but seemed to share his sentiment.

~\*/~

Once his breathing had settled down, Demyx folded a part of the massive leaf over him like a blanket. Amidst sniffles, he sang softly until he fell asleep.

Yo! Three chapters out quickly! What is this?! Have I finally gotten over my writer's block? Is my ADHD letting me hyperfocus on writing once more? Who knows? :3

Either way, I hope you enjoy (and that this continues)! :D Also, I got part of my voice back, so I was actually able to come back to work today. :)

Soli Deo gloria!

~LHDD