Kingdom Hearts 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters shown in the game. And I ain't getting any money from writing this I'm doing so simply for the fun of it.

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Darkness. 

Complete, suffocating, overwhelming darkness. None of them knew how long they'd been banished to this place. Time didn't exist here. All five senses were numbed into a state of almost non-existence. It was impossible to tell right from left, to know if you were walking on a solid surface or if you would fall even deeper down. So far as they knew they were completely alone.

The Superior. The Freeshooter. The Whirlwind Lancer. The Chilly Academic. The Silent Hero. The Cloaked Schemer. The Lunar Diviner. The Flurry of Dancing Flames. The Melodious Nocturne. The Gambler of Fate. The Graceful Assassin. And the Savage Nymph. At least that is what they were known as… once. They could not see each other, nor sense the presence of anyone other than themselves… even then it was hard to tell if it was real or not. So, in their minds, they truly were alone.

Then was the noise. At first only faint; like a distant, almost non-existing memory. But steadily getting louder until it sounded like the sea in the middle of a hurricane. It was deafening. Still the volume kept increasing.

And it suddenly stopped, only to be replaced, instantly, by a bright, blindingly white light.

As slowly as the ear-splitting noise had come, so faded the intense light. When it finally dissipated two figures lay sprawled out on the moist grass.

Immediately after the blinding light was gone, the smaller of the two gasped audibly his eyes snapping open as he jerked up into a sitting position. "Aw man… what happened?" he wondered out loud his eyes widened with slight nervousness as he looked around, attempting to take in his surroundings. The place was definitely familiar although Demyx could not quite put a name to it at the moment.

Hearing a loud groan somewhere nearby, Demyx's head swung in the direction he'd heard the sound. His body (which had tensed instinctively just in case the person who'd created the noise was going to try and hurt him) relaxed and a grin of recognition spread across his face as he spotted the tall muscular form.

"Lexaeus!" he called out, scrambling to his feet and running over to the other Nobody.

Lexaeus, who until now hadn't noticed the younger man's presence there, looked over as he sat up removing the hand which had been massaging his aching forehead. The Neophyte stopped a couple of feet from his superior. "How're you here? Xemnas told us that everyone except Axel was destroyed at Castle Oblivion." he asked, clearly confused as to how the larger man was there in front of him.

He shook his head. "To tell you the truth Number Nine, I'm not too sure myself." he said motioning for the younger Nobody to sit by him. At first Demyx seemed a little hesitant, as if he doubted his superior's intentions. "I'm not going to bite you." the older man assured him patiently, once again motioning for him to sit down.

Visibly relaxing, Demyx approached Lexaeus and did as he was told. Lexaeus couldn't really blame him. It was a well-known fact that the Melodious Nocturne had gotten a hard time from the other members about his reluctance to fight. Because of being extremely busy (being the strongest physically of all the Nobodies, Xemnas just about always had some kind of mission for the man leaving him hardly any time for socializing) Lexaeus had never really spoken to the Neophyte.

"Tell me exactly what's been going on since Castle Oblivion." he said calmly, his voice taking on a patient and encouraging tone. Despite not having talked or even been around the boy much, Lexaeus knew that the more comfortable he was the more likely he was going to get an understandable explanation. Xemnas was forever getting frustrated at the poor boy for his stammering when he got nervous. And right now Lexaeus had a headache that he didn't want worsened.

"Well… everything was okay for a while I guess. Xaldin was a little extra moody and Xigbar actually had moments where he was serious. Then everything went pretty much back to normal… until Roxas left us." Demyx glanced over to see Lexaeus' reaction before continuing. "The Superior was furious, not only with Roxas but with Axel too. Wanted to know why he'd just let Roxas leave. Actually that's what _all_ of us wanted to know. Everything started going downhill from there."

It took around another ten, possibly fifteen, minutes for Demyx to explain everything he remembered. "I don't even know how I got here... the last thing I remember is getting beaten by Sora." he finished meekly. Lexaeus sat there for a moment, allowing all of this information to sink in before turning to face the apprehensive Nocturne.

"Come, we'll see if we can find any of the others. Perhaps some of them may still be alive." he said as he slowly rose to his feet.

Quickly Demyx got up as well, not wanting to be left alone. He really hoped that at least some members of the Organization were left apart from him and Lexaeus. Not that he minded the giant's presence. It's just that over the years, despite the constant put-downs, the Organization had become like a family to him. A very dysfunctional family. But a family all the same.

"Yeah, and who knows, maybe Xemnas managed to complete Kingdom Hearts and the others weren't destroyed." said the musician brightly, attempting to appear optimistic. Though in his mind he doubted what he had just said almost as much as it was possible to.

Lexaeus gave a brief nod before walking in the direction of the town which was not too far away. Hastily Demyx hurried to walk beside the larger Nobody, not wanting to be left behind. He was having to adjust his normal pace quite a bit just to keep up with the man's long precise strides. But he didn't voice his complaints. While Lexaeus was definitely patient, more so than most of the other members of the Organization, Demyx didn't want to push the situation too much just in case.

As they walked, Demyx was trying to think of the name to go with this place. He knew what it was. It was even on the tip of his tongue! But he just couldn't get it out.

"Is something troubling you Number Nine?" Lexaeus' eyes glanced down at him as he asked the question.

At first Demyx hesitated, he didn't want to look like an idiot in front of his superior. But there was something about Number Five's gentle nature which relaxed him enough to voice his thoughts in front of the other. "It's just that I know this place Lexaeus. The frustrating thing is, I know I should remember its name. But it keeps escaping me." the frustration showed through in the boy's voice.

Lexaeus looked at him for a moment longer and smiled slightly. "You should know it. This is Hollow Bastion." he told the younger Nobody evenly.

Demyx seemed a little dumb-struck for a moment as he let this situation sink in. Then his cheeks flushed slightly in embarassment as he grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

The larger man clapped his companion's shoulder gently, assuring him not to get worked up or anything over it. Understanding this Demyx nodded. "Uhm I think we should get rid of our coats though... it'll only create a fuss if people see us in our full Organization uniforms." he said as the thought suddenly came to him.

"Yes. That sounds like a good idea." agreed Lexaeus with a nod of his head.

With that the two Nobodies unzipped their coats and hid them amongst some of the glowing crystal formations which now surrounded them instead of the grassy field from earlier. They kept on the standard leather trousers and boots, mainly because there was nothing else to put on instead of those. Lexaeus wore a plain white tank top which showed off his muscular chest and also kept on his gloves. Wheras Demyx had on a baggy blue t-shirt that had a dolphin on the back as well as a white sweat-band on his left wrist. The Nocturne had also left his gloves with his coat.

"Will anyone here recognize you, Demyx?" Lexaeus asked the Nocturne before they continued on their way. But the younger Nobody just shook his head with a bright smile.

"Nah. Sora, Donald and Goofy were the only ones who saw me here." he said confidently.

"Then let's go." replied Lexaeus, a smile tugging at his lips towards the smaller man.

* * *

Two figures standing atop one of the cliffs had been watching the progress of the two Nobodies with particular interest. The first rays of daylight shone behind them from the horizon. Neither spoke they just watched. Every aspect of their bodies and features were concealed within red and black robes, resembling those that monks would have worn, with a small amount of armour on one shoulder. 

"Follow them from the skies. Be sure not to be seen until the two of them are completely alone. If physical conflict can be avoided then do so. Bring them back to the base without fail." said the taller of the two, his voice deep with an ever-present animalistic growl.

His companion nodded. "Understood. The mistress will be most pleased with us." was the reply. He wrapped an arm around the shoulders of his slightly shorter companion in an almost affectionate manner.

"Indeed she will."

With that he vanished, leaving his female companion alone. She stood there a few moments longer, allowing the two Nobodies to get a little bit further, before her body was shrouded in shadows only to be replaced by that of a proud-looking eagle. Spreading her wings and flexing them experimentally at first she soon took to the air, keeping silent as she followed the two men. To keep the noise level to a bare minimum she opted to mainly lide using the air currents rather than keep flapping her feathered wings. Preferring to do that only if she started to lag behind the ones she was now stalking.

* * *

Demyx felt a sudden chill run up his spine, causing him to shiver slightly. It wasn't cold, in fact it was pleasently warm. He looked discreetly towards Lexaeus to see if he too felt uneasy. But he could tell nothing from the larger man's calm exterior. 

Giving up on trying to read his companion, Demyx occupied himself with taking in the appearance of the town itself. At first glance it was pretty much the same as it had been when he was last here. Although here and there were some signs that some progress towards the restoration of the town had been made. But they seemed to be, at the very least, ten years old. Almost as if the work had been abruptly abandoned for some unknown reason.

_Woah... what happened here?_ the boy thought. From the corners of his eyes he could see faint outlines of, who knew how many, Heartless. Thankfully they were mere shadows and the occasional soldier. Nothing either of them couldn't handle.

Lexaeus, on the other hand, appeared restless. The blonde Nobody had been too lost in his own thoughts to notice that his companion had tensed, a frown on his strong features. Finally he spoke. "Demyx." although his voice kept it's normal volume and calm tone, the sudden noise had made his companion jump. He looked up questioningly. "Is this how Hollow Bastion was when you fought Sora?" there was noone around apart from them and the countless numbers of Heartless, which appeared content which merely watching them for the moment. It wasn't as if they had hearts to peak the interest of the loathsome creatures.

His frown deepened when the blonde beside him shook his head. "No, last time even at this time of day we'd normally have run into _someone. _And the buildings are in a much worse state." he told Lexaeus, seemingly as confused and curious about it as the larger man felt.

"I don't sense any of the others..." Lexaeus muttered under his breath. "We should get out of here Number Nine." he added, his voice taking a tone that clearly said that he didn't want to argue on the matter.

Demyx, however, had other ideas. Either he hadn't quite understood his superior's tone or he was determined about something. "But what if we can find ou anything about what's been going on since we've been... wherever it was we were?" he questioned, looking up at the bigger male.

"The others are not here Demyx." Lexaeus' voice was patient and calm as usual but held a tone of firmness that few apart from Xemnas and the original six could ignore.

Demyx gulped. "Still! We can at least _try_ and find out!" he pleaded. "I mean someone might just know something. We can at least give it a try." the blonde added hopefully.

The larger man raised a hand to his forehead, massaging it between his thumb and forefinger. "Listen--" but before he could finish his reprimand the two of them were surrounded. As soon as Demyx felt cold steel against his back he let out a panicked, almost frightened, noise and scrambled over so that he was right beside Lexaeus.

"Who are you? And what exactly is your buisness here?!"

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A/N: Okay well there's chapter one. Originally I was going to have three of the organization's members as the main characters. But I couldn't decide on a third one so it's just Lexaeus and Demyx. Demyx cos he's just awesome. And Lexaeus because he's a great character that doesn't get nearly enough attention or credit. Well all forms of reviews are appreciated. And in any story I write, the disclaimer will only appear in the first chapter (or the prologue if the story has one). 


	2. Chapter 2

Woah, Chapter Two's out already. This is real fast for me

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"State your buisness here, strangers!" snapped a tall youth who appeared to be the leader of this rag-tag group of delinquents.

Hearing Demyx gulp slightly beside him, Lexaeus eyed their 'attackers'. Many of them were just kids in their teens. Some not even thirteen yet. All of them were carrying weapons of some sort, generally with a blade to them. Their clothes were dirty, ragged and torn. Their skin was as dirty as their clothing and seemed to be badly bruised on many of them.

Had he still had his heart, Lexaeus was sure that he would be feeling pity or possibly sympathy towards them. But as it was he did not. "I told you to state your buisness!" spat the leader irritably.

"We just need a place to stay for a little while." said the large Nobody calmly, his eyes fixed on the boy. "My companion and I have no intention to cause any trouble." he added, seeing the boy's eyes narrow suspiciously. A red-headed girl walked forward boldly, her face set in an angry scowl.

"Like we gonna believe that!" she hissed, "Y'talk jus' like 'em. An' none o' us ever seen either of ya here afore. For all's we know ya might be spies for those bastards!" her grip on the handle of the large sword (which looked to be bigger than she was) tightened enough to make her knuckles turn white. The girl's chocolate brown eyes glared hatefully at Lexaeus. Demyx's face showed confusion and, showing incredible boldness, took a few steps toward the girl. But he stopped dead in his tracks when she swung the blade at him, missing contact by mere centimeters. "Don't come any closer, you son of a bitch!" she snarled fiercely, her eyes narrowed into an angrier glare.

"Cool it, Kenna!" snapped one of the older-looking teens. She had tons of scars and an eye patch covered her left eye. "You too, Bane." she added coldly to the brunette who had tried to interrogate Lexaeus. The boy scowled at her in frustration and anger.

"You're taking their side?!" he snapped. In response the girl shook her head.

"No. I'm going to handle them myself." her tone remained cold and apathetic as she fixed the boy with a piercing glare. Demyx gulped again and sub-consciously edged closer to Lexaeus who was watching the scene with interest.

_This girl reminds me, a little, of Saїx_… Demyx thought uneasily. "They'll stay with me until tomorrow. I'll find out what they're doing here by then." she assured the one she had called Bane.

"Y'can't be serious!" protested the red-head but before she could say anything further she was silenced by the icy glare she was given by the elder girl.

"I. Will. Handle. This." her voice was slow and emphasized every word. Before anyone else could speak up, the girl walked past the two Nobodies. "Come with me." she told them, slinging an arm over Demyx's shoulders to ensure that he did not run away and his companion would follow, if only to keep an eye on the younger one. For a girl she was quite tall, surpassing Demyx's height by about an inch. And despite the lack of visible muscles, her grip seemed to be as strong as Xaldin's. The blonde boy trembled slightly and gave Lexaeus a pleading look. The large man nodded slowly and gently shifted the arm away from Demyx.

"We won't try and escape." was the only explanation he offered to her as Demyx let out a relieved sigh which changed to a whimper as his soft blue eyes met with hard, uncaring crimson ones.

"Fine."

* * *

_"Hmmm this complicates matters. Looks as if I'll have to wait until those two part company with that albino child." _Had she had any lips in this form they would have been curved into a wily smirk. _"Still, the mistress is always looking out for new **test subjects**."_ she added malisciously as she silently followed after her charges.

* * *

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two Nobodies and their female 'companion' as they walked through the ruined city for what seemed like hours. Demyx instinctively kept close to Lexaeus, staying as far away from the albino girl, who reminded him so much of Saїx, as possible without looking like he was going to make a break for freedom. 

The giant's presence was rather comforting. At the same time as being strong and reliable, the large Nobody was patient with Demyx. A luxury he had never really recieved from any other members of the Organization. It was nice.

"I ain't gonna bite ya, kid." the girl didn't even look over her shoulder at them as she said this. But her voice was less cold and apathetic than it had been earlier. "Besides we're here." she added before Demyx could respond.

"And where's 'here'?" Lexaeus questioned. The only answer he got was the girl forcibly opening a door which neither Nobody had really noticed because it resembled all the rubble and debris that surrounded it. Almost like a camoflage.

"My place." she told them, walking inside and gesturing for them to do the same.

The girl lit a few candles so that they could see then pointed towards the only two chairs in the room, indicating that they should sit down.

For a moment Demyx hesitated. But when he saw Lexaeus sit without complaint, surprisingly the hardly-in-perfect-condition chair held his weight without even groaning, he relaxe a bit and did the same as his companion. "What kind of place _is_ this? I haven't seen any signs of life for the last hour or so." said the blonde. Evidently this thought had crossed Lexaeus' mind also because he nodded then said that he would like to know the answer to that as well.

Cautiously the girl closed the door before turning to face them. "Before I answer any questions, and vice-versa, let's get the introductions over and done with. My name is Gavina. Jus' call me Gav though, I prefer that."

"Well I'm Demyx. But I'll answer to just about anything." replied the Nocturne, a grin returning to his face. It appeared that he was finally starting to relax around 'Gav'.

"Just Lexaeus." said the taller Nobody, his eyes fixed upon their 'host'.

For the first time since they had met her, Gavina's thin lips curved into a slight smile. "Alright then. To answer your question Demyx, this area happens to be the safest place left in Hollow Bastion besides the Market Place. Used t' be this place bore the worst of the attacks from the Heartless. But when everyone left to nearer the Market Place, safety in numbers apparently, the Heartless bega t' completely ignore the area. Meaning it was safe for me t' claim this old house as my own."

"Why didn't more people come back here though? If the Heartless no longer come here." asked Demyx.

"Because it would only have lured the Heartless back here." Gav told him simply. It seemed so obvious, from the way she said it, that Demyx's grin turned sheepish and he ran a hand through his hair in embarassment.

"Oh... right."

"My turn then." she said, casually leaning against the filthy wall. "Kenna had a point earlier. None o' us have seen new-comers here for close onto eight years now. So I'm gonna repeat their question. What brings ya t' this god-forsaken town?"

"We're just passing through. Hoping to get a few supplies since we've run short." Lexaeus half-lied. It was true that they had absolutely no supplies. But their original intention had not been to just pass through. Luckily he had spen enough time with the Cloaked Schemer, better known as Zexion, to be a fair lier when the need arose.

"Aye? Well where ya headed?"

"Not exactly sure... we're looking for some friends of ours." said Demyx, quickly catching onto Lexaeus' plan. Not telling Gav the whole truth but at the same time not lying to her.

"Heh, well y'better hope that they ain't anywhere near Hollow Bastion. Otherwise it's more than likely the Heartless'll have got 'em. Either that or _they'll_ have captured 'em."

"Who'se 'they'?" Demyx questioned, blinking a few times in confusion.

"If ya don't know then I ain't gonna tell ya. Hopefully y' won't hafta come face-to-face with 'em. But if ya do then you'll find out." then her face became deadly serious. "I suggest that first thing in the morning we go to the Market Place and pick up your supplies. Then I'm takin' ya straight t' see Cid. He'll fix ya up with a half-decent Gummi-ship and then the two o' ya best fly on outta here first chance ya get." she told them sternly, her face taking on a slight scowl.

Lexaeus nodded in agreement to this suggestion. Demyx was starting to look uncomfortable again. "Well _I've_ got a question for _you_ now. Perhaps you'd care to explain to us what's going on, about your friends' reactions to us earlier. And exactly why we haven't seen _anyone_ else since we got here."

Demyx nodded as well. "Yeah, the last time I was here there were loads of people out on the streets and Hollow Bastion was well on it's way to being restored. So what happened?" he added to his larger companion's question.

"You kiddin' me right?" Gav asked them, her raised eyebrow the only indication of her surprise at this. Seeing that neither of the two males were joking she continued. "Well you guys cantta been here for over twelve years then. Anyways me 'n' the others. Most of us're refugees from other worlds. And many were too young at the time to remember what world they came from or why they left it. T' pay back the resident folks for lookin' out for us, we patrol the streets jus' in case there's suspicious folks wanderin' around. We'll report back to the base just outside the Market Place if we think there's a threat. Bane's the one who's lived here longest. So he thinks of himself as leader. Takes it upon himself t' look out for th' rest of us. That's why he acted the way he did earlier. Then there's others like Kenna. Got real issues with trust. In fact if we hadn't been around she woulda attacked the both of ya without question. Most likely gettin' herself hurt considerin' the fact ya look like an experienced fighter. Strong one at that." she added this last part to Lexaeus, it was a statement but held a sense that it was also a compliment.

"So how come you stood up for us back there?" asked Demyx. "I mean you don't even know us."

Gav's gaze turned to the blonde. Crimson irises meeting his blue ones. "How do you know if you can trust us?" after this the albino girl was silent for a moment.

"Because I have a sort of sixth sense about that kind of thing. Call it instinct, E.S.P, whatever ya want. But it ain't failed me yet. And it tells me that we can trust ya."

* * *

This was valuable information indeed. From what she had overheard of this conversation, neither Nobody knew what was going on yet. Not only that but she, now, had the perfect location in mind for another research laboratory. One which could run without interferance from those damned Heartless. 

Her piercing amber-colored eyes glinted in the faint sunlight, giving the illusion of a smirk. All she had to do was follow them once more tomorrow and wait for the albino girl to leave the two Nobodies alone. That would give her the perfect opportunity to bring them with her. But she would have to be swift about it. That Cid was more than aware of the forms that she and the others could take. By now he and the others who resided with him could distinguish when one of them was around, despite the illusions they used to keep the mark on their foreheads from being seen by the naked eye.

* * *

Demyx and Lexaeus were seated in the only other room of the house. It was a bit smaller than the front room and consisted of a mattress, a bunch of blankets and a couch. Lexaeus had taken the mattress on Demyx's insistance that he was fine with having the couch. "What d'ya think could've done this to Hollow Bastion, Lexaeus?" asked the musician quietly. He was sitting on his knees, arms folded in front of him on the back of the couch so he could face the other. 

Lexaeus looked over at the younger Nobody and shook his head, leaning slightly back against the wall, not really caring that the dust would mark his white top. "I don't know but it wasn't the Heartless. At least not _just_ the Heartless." he replied.

"Yeah... that's what I was thinking." Demyx nodded in agreement though he still seemed to have something troubling him. Noticing this, Lexaeus raised an eyebrow questioningly at his younger companion. After a while Demyx stopped avoiding having to answer the Silent Hero's unspoken question. "It's just that... shouldn't Roxas, er I mean Sora have been here to do something? As keyblade master it's kinda his job... so why, if he's still around, did he let this happen. I mean he had lotsa friends here from what I remember..."

For a moment Lexaeus remained silent. Then he replied slowly, "From what I gather from what Gav's told us, this is happening in just about every known world. My guess would be that the keyblade master, if he's still alive, has had his hands full and is currently unable to come."

Demyx blinked a few times, slightly confused by Lexaeus' choice of words. "What do you mean, Lexaeus?" the larger Nobody's blue eyes met with his own.

"I mean, Demyx, that it's been at least twelve, if not fifteen, years since you found yourself trapped in the darkness. For all we know both Sora and Roxas, being the same person, could be long dead by now." he didn't attempt to soften the blow. He was still trying to come to terms with this possibility himself. After all he had been rather fond of Roxas, they all had (well as close to fondness as Nobodies could get anyway). The thought that he might be dead was slightly unnerving, even for him.

Demyx's reaction wasn't exactly what Lexaeus had expected from the Nocturne. The blonde's face had taken on a dark scowl and he'd _snapped_ at the other. "No! They're not dead." Lexaeus was taken aback by this. The usually timid blonde had actually just snarled at him. "I knew Roxas, both as himself _and_ as Sora! _Neither_ of them would be taken down that easily!"

A distinct glint of remembered anger flashed in the Nocturne's eyes before he growled slightly and let himself fall into a lying position on the couch. Lexaeus was sure he heard the blonde mutter "You didn't even know him!" before he continued.

"I'm not saying he is. What I'm trying to say is that we can't rule out that possibility."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, they're really appreciated. In answer to one of the questions I've been asked, yes the other Organization members will be making appearances in this story. Again all kinds of reviews are appreciated. Just be warned that barely any of my updates will be as fast as this one, due to the fact that I get writer's block a lot and have exams starting on Tuesday. But I'm still gonna try to post throughout this. Just so you know Gav, Kenna and Bane are all orgininal characters and belong to me not Square Enix or Disney. 


	3. Chapter 3

It must have been around five in the morning when Gav came to get the two Nobodies. The sun had not yet risen, but faint rays could be seen starting to peek above the horizon. Lexaeus was already awake when she entered the room. In fact the large man had been awake all night, reminiscing mostly. He nodded a morning greeting to their host. She returned the nod and proceeded to shake Demyx back into reality.

"Nngh... what time is it?" his words were slightly slurred and he still seemed drowzy as he looked at Gav.

"Doesn't matter. Now's th' best time t' get ya into the Market Place with minimal encounters with the Heartless." she told him simply, folding her arms across her chest as she waited for him to get to his feet.

"But the sun isn't even up yet!" a small smile tugged at Lexaeus' lips at this. Demyx sounded like a little five-year-old just then. Gavina, however, wasn't having any of the blonde's complaining and she roughly shoved him off of the couch. Fixing him with a cold look as she did so. Seeing this, Demyx gulped and bit his lip to keep himself from protesting any further.

Satisfied with this, Gav proceeded to head outside. Lexaeus following right behind her. Demyx scrambled to his feet telling them to wait up.

Much like the day before there was silence between the three of them and Demyx kept close to Lexaeus. Thankfully the giant noted that the blonde Neophyte was being smart enough to pretend that their falling out from the previous night had never happened. This would make things a little less awkward until they were on board the Gummi Ship and Gav wouldn't be with them. This way neither of them had to endure probing looks and questions from the girl, who was slowly slipping back into her more apathetic demenour, as to why they were so tense around each other all of a sudden.

This day's walk was about half an hour longer than yesterday's had been. And by now the sun was fully visible above the horizon (yes the sun rises quite quickly in Hollow Bastion but it still takes a little while). The Market Place definitely held many of the inhabitants of Hollow Bastion. This was obvious to anyone, even if they hadn't been told beforehand. There were actually people outside but they all looked nervous, even frightened.

Both Lexaeus and Demyx were fixed with suspicious looks, but nobody said anything because they recognized Gav and assumed that everything was under control.

"Yo! Gav, over here, man! We been waitin' for ya!" a young boy, seemingly only just in his teens, ran up to them. Stopping in front of Gav he let a grin pass over his face in greeting as the two gripped each other's forearms. Then his face became serious. "These th' outsiders what Bane 'n' Kenna was rantin' to Leon an' the others 'bout?" he asked jerking his head at the two Nobodies, the gold hoop in his right ear shaking a little as he did.

"Aye, that's them." Demyx obviously didn't like being talked about like he wasn't there and opened his mouth to retort. But was cut short.

"C'mon then. Everyone's at Cid's place waitin' for ya. Bane's been gettin frustrated. Thinkin' they'd done somethin' t'ya while we weren't around." he said, a slight smirk came to his face as he added "Bu' all of us know you'd beat 'em hands down in a fight. Kahn was starting t' take bets on how long it'd take for you t' take down th' big guy." a chuckle came to his voice as he said this.

This earned him a smack to the back of his head from the older teenager accompanied by a glare. "Just take us t' Cid's. That's why ya came aint it, Katch?" she said coldly.

"Yup." he responded with a cheeky grin. "But ya gotta say please first." the boy added, his grin changing to a cocky smirk. His pearly white teeth, which were in surprisingly good condition considering his living conditions, stood out against his dark skin. Gav scowled at this and grabbed one side of his open denim jacket, near the neck, and pulled him close to her before planting a kiss on the boy's lips. It didn't last long and Katch was shoved back as soon as it was done.

"There, now don't keep us waitin' any longer ya arrogant bastard." she snarled as Katch did a little 'victory number'.

The dark-skinned boy grinned once more at her and nodded. "Sure thing! Hah! Sean's never gonna believe this, I got kissed! And by the hardest-to-get girl in the group! Score!" Katch didn't even bother lowering his voice. This earned the boy a kick to his backside, accompanied by a fierce glare.

Demyx couldn't help it. He tried to stifle the laughter but failed miserably. Lexaeus, however, was managing to hide his amusement pretty well apart from the smile tugging at his lips. The blonde immediately stopped laughing and sidled even closer to his superior at the glare he got from Gav.

* * *

She was starting to get impatient now. Thanks to that new kid, the progress of her appointed targets was being slowed down. Eventually someone was going to notice her, realize that she wasn't what she was appearing to be. If those four didn't hurry up she would be forced into doing something drastic to secure the targets as well as the albino girl. She had planned to come back for her after delivering the two Nobodies back to the Headquarters. But if push came to shove then she would throw that plan to the wind and take all of them at once. It would certainly take less time. 

However she wasn't one to abandone caution. It was going to be hard enough getting the two Nobodies to Headquarters without getting found out by that annoying former Restoration Comittee. If she could avoid it she wasn't going to make things trickier by also taking the albino.

No, for now she'd force herself to be patient. And stick to her plan.

* * *

"You're late." 

Bane had been waiting outside the door to Cid's house for them. Kenna at the other side of the door. In the well-lit Market Place it was easier to see what the two teenagers looked like.

Kenna's fiery red hair fell about half an inch below her shoulders. The sides were shaved off, as well as the underside. The rest was held up in a high ponytail. She was just a little taller than Katch, roughly five foot four Lexaeus guessed, and most of her pale skin seemed to be covered with either scars or bruises. She held herself with dignity and didn't seem to mind the 'disfigurations' (as many girls would see scars as), in fact Kenna almost appeared proud of them.

Bane was pretty tall, about six foot (another guess on Lexaeus' part). His medium brown hair was messy and some of it fell in a fringe that almost completely hid his steel-colored eyes from sight. Unlike most of the others he didn't have an awful lot of scars on his tanned skin. But he still had a few.

"Would'a been here sooner. But one wouldn't wake up." Gav jerked a thumb in Demyx's direction. "And a certain kid was being difficult." she shot a glare at Katch who was grinning innocently. Hearing what Gav said, the dark-skinned boy pointed at himself with an expression of mock-hurt on his face.

Demyx had to pretend to cough in an attempt to disguise a snort of laughter. Bane scowled at the blonde then opened the door to Cid's house. "Leon! Cid! They're here!" he called, almost bitterly before walking inside, waving his hand to say 'get inside'. Demyx was right behind Kenna who was immediately after Bane. The red-head 'accidentally' shoved her foot backwards into the poor blonde's shin. This caused a small hiss of pain from the Nobody as he glared slightly at the girl's back. _Man, she's got real issues..._ he thought irritably as Lexaeus walked in and stood next to him, shortly followed by Gav who shut the door behind her as Katch raced inside so that he didn't get shut out.

"Gav tells us you're in need of supplies and transport." said a man as he stepped out of the shadows. Demyx recognized him immediately as the one they'd called 'Leon' the last time he'd been in Hollow Bastion. He was a bit older now, looking to be in his mid-to-late thirties.

Lexaeus nodded. "That's right."

Looking at Lexaeus for the first time since they'd arrived, Leon's eyes narrowed slightly. Not from suspicion or hatred. A glint of recognition flashed in the man's eyes. But he shook his head slightly and his face returned to it's usual state. "Alright. Well, Gav explained everything to us last night so there's no need for any explanations. Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa filled a couple of backpacks with food, some clean clothes and stuff like that. Cid should be back any minute from getting the Gummi Ship ready." he told them simply.

A wide grin spread across Demyx's face as he unexpctedly, and with amazing speed, hugged the gunblader. "Thanks!" he said, apparently paying no attention to Leon's attempts to pry the blonde off of him.

Katch was sniggering away to himself in a corner somewhere at the sight. It was impossible to read either Kenna or Bane but Gav chuckled slightly. After a moment, Lexaeus took pity on the man and proceeded to drag Demyx away from him. "Thank you." he added to Leon just as two people walked in from the back.

"Oh, so they're finally here." said the woman, she looked to be only a few years younger than Leon, and smiled sweetly. The blonde man who had entered with her sniffed and ran his thumb across the tip of his nose. He looked first at Demyx, then moved on to look at Lexaeus.

His eyes widened and recognition shone in them. "Cid? Hey, Cid?!" Katch called, snapping his fingers in front of Cid's face.

"What is it, Cid?" asked the woman, concern evident in her soft, almost unbearably sweet voice. Cid ignored them and took a few steps toward the two Nobodies.

"I recognise this'n. Looks mighty like that big fella what used to learn under old Ansem." he said. Demyx looked at Lexaeus, trying to determine what his larger companion was thinkin or planning to do.

"You high one somethin' Cid? If he were one of Ansem's students then he'd be older than you! This guy don't even look out of his twenties yet." snorted Bane.

"I ain't high!" Cid snapped at the brown-haired youth.

"No, guys, I think he's right! I remember hackin' into Ansem's old computer, y'know 'cause I was curious, I saw a few things 'bout the apprentices. Didn't really read it or nothin'. Just skimmed through an' looked at the photos. This guy's definitly just like one of the pictures!" Katch interrupted the never-begun-argument.

Leon nodded slowly. "I thought I recognised him." then he glanced over at the dark-skinned boy with a look that promised a long talking to after this was over.

"That's impossible!" Demyx interjected. He wasn't going to wait around for Lexaeus to say anything. "I've known Lexaeus all my life, and most of his, and he's never been anybody's apprentice!" the blonde folded his arms across his chest, his tone firm leaving no room for argument.

Finally, after having been silent for some time now, Lexaeus spoke up. "No, I was never an apprentice here. Or anywhere else. But my uncle was studying under Ansem the Wise for a time." yes all that time spent with Zexion was proving very useful right now.

"Uncle, eh? Well you're the spitting image of him anyway. That musta been what threw me." said Cid, a smug grin appearing on his face now.

Just then the door swung open and a woman in her twenties raced inside. "We need to borrow Bane, Leon! We found one of them spying on the Market Place, but none of our weapons can get it." she spoke incredibly fast and it was hard to make out what she was saying, but somehow they managed. Before anyone could question her further, the black-haired girl had dragged Bane outside by the arm.

Soon there were gun-shots heard outside. Demyx opened his mouth to ask what was going on but was stopped by Gav grabbing his wrist. "Everything's already on the ship. You two get out o' here now!" she hissed, dragging the poor confused blonde behind her. Lexaeus was close behind. "Y'know how t' fly one o' these right?" Gav asked them hurridly.

"I do." Lexaeus answered.

"Good, that'll save ya some time attemptin' that trial and error crap." she said, roughly shoving Demyx inside, stepping aside to let Lexaeus onboard. "Now, get outta here! Don't worry 'bout us lot we're gonna be fine." and with that she sped off.

Demyx made as if to follow her, only to be stopped by one of Lexaeus' muscular arms. "We need to find out what's been going on since our absence. I doubt anyone here will tell us." the large Nobody told his companion as he closed the door to the Gummi Ship. "Besides... I think we'll be back before too long." and with that, Lexaeus started moving towards the cockpit.

_"Nice cover up, my friends."_ a voice from somewhere near the back of the vehicle said with a slight chuckle. _"I must say that I truly am impressed."_

"Who's there?" Demyx called out to the, for now, disembodied voice.

"I suggest you show yourself." said Lexaeus calmly, but there was a threatening edge to his voice which made Demyx shudder slightly when he heard it.

_"But of course, forgive my rudeness."_ there was a slight flapping of feathered wings and an eagle emerged from the shadows, to perch upon one of Lexaeus' broad shoulders.

"Who are you?" Demyx questioned. The bird's piercing amber eyes looked straight into his blue ones.

_"A mere messanger, a messanger who can take you to your comrades." _

* * *

A/N: Okay I'm scaring myself with how fast I'm managing to update this so far. Well anyways, thanks again for the reviews I really appreciate the feedback! So, yeah the next chapter should be where the plot finally starts to pick up, until next time. And as always any reviews are welcome. 


	4. Chapter 4

_"A mere messenger, a messenger who can take you to your comrades."_

"Are you serious?! Can you really take us to them?" exclaimed Demyx excitedly.

The eagle briefly closed its eyes and lowered its head in a nod. _"Indeed I can. In fact that's the reason that I'm here." _it said. A glint in the amber eyes giving the two Nobodies the impression of a smile.

"You hear that, Lexaeus? That means they're still alive, just like us!" he looked up at his superior with a grin on his face. However this faded a little when he saw that Lexaeus' eyes were narrowed slightly in suspicion as he looked at the eagle which was calmly perched upon his broad shoulder. "Lexaeus?" the blonde questioned uncertainly.

"How do we know that we can trust you?" the man asked, ignoring Demyx for the time being.

_"I assure you, my friend, that you have no reason to doubt my intentions. As I said all I am here to do is escort you to where the other members of Organization XIII now wait. However if it would douse your suspicions then I will gladly allow you to put my honesty to the test." _the bird's tone remained calm and polite as it spoke to the larger of the two Nobodies. It waited patiently for Lexaeus' response to its offer.

"Tell us the names of all our comrades, in order of rank, who are currently where you intend to take us. Including their titles from within the Organization." he said firmly, arms folded across his muscular chest.

Again the bird inclined its head. This time in a form of respectful bow. _"Of course, Lexaeus. There is Xemnas, the Superior. Xigbar, the Freeshooter. Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer. Vexen, the Chilly Academic. Zexion, the Cloaked Schemer. Saix, the Lunar Diviner. Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames. Luxord, the Gambler of Fate. Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin. And, of course, Larxene the Savage Nymph."_

"See! Everyone's there, Lexaeus. So let's just go!" seeing that the older Nobody still had doubts about this he added, "C'mon, this could be the only lead we get. We can't just ignore it... and besides if we are being tricked then we can easily fight back." Demyx pleaded.

Although he still wasn't completely convinced Lexaeus nodded. Maybe they could get some answers from this bird as to what's been going on in their absence, if nothing else. "Alright then."

Grin returning to his features, Demyx hugged the giant without any warning whatsoever. It didn't take long for Lexaeus to pry the blonde Nobody off of him. A slight chuckling noise could be heard from the eagle. _"Before we depart, I took the liberty of retrieving your coats and gloves which you neglected to pick up after heading into the town yesterday. They're in the back."_ the bird indicated the storeroom with one of its wings as it said this.

Immediately Demyx rushed into the storeroom and was soon out again wearing his Organization coat and gloves. Tucked under one arm was Lexaeus' coat. The blonde grinned and handed it to the larger Nobody. "See? We can trust her!"

Lexaeus raised an eyebrow as he took his coat from the Neophyte and pulled it on. "How do you know it's a she?" he questioned.

Demyx merely shrugged. "Just seems like a girl to me."

The larger Nobody sighed then turned his head to look at the bird which had vacated from his shoulder and was now perched on the back of the pilot seat of the Gummi Ship. _"I've already entered the co-ordinates for our destination. The ship merely needs to be given the command and it will go."_

_How did it enter the co-ordinates without hands or fingers to do so with? _thought Lexaeus suspiciously. As if reading his mind, the eagle merely lifted its foot and flexed its talons.

"You've certainly thought this through." commented the man as he took the pilot seat. Demyx was already sitting in the one next to it.

_"When you live where I do it paays to learn to plan ahead."

* * *

_

Not even five minutes into the flight Demyx had fallen asleep in his seat, apparently making up for the sleep he missed out on when Gav had woken him up that morning. Lexaeus couldn't help a small chuckle at this. Demyx really was like a little kid at times. It was a pleasent change from the terminal seriousness of many of the other members of the Organization. But now wasn't the time for reminiscing. Now that Demyx was asleep, Lexaeus was going to take this opportunity to question the messanger.

It was almost uncanny how the bird reacted. Like it really could read his thoughts. It glided over and landed gracefully on his broad shoulder. The bright intelligent eyes looking into his as it leaned forward to be able to see his face. _"You have questions."_ it stated.

"What, exactly, is your little game? I somehow doubt that you're doing this from the goodness of your heart." the word heart held a bitter tone as Lexaeus was once again reminded of the one thing he lacked and desperately wanted back.

_"Hmm, although it really isn't my place to say, I suppose you deserve at least **some** insight."_ the bird mused thoughtfully. _"Suffice it to say that **my** comrades and myself are in need of assistance." _

"And you recquire Organization XIII for this?" the man raised an eyebrow. The Gummi Ship was on auto-pilot so that it could follow the co-ordinates set into the mainframe by this messanger.

_"In a sense. It's more a case that we need you and your young, sleeping, companion. The rest will be explained when we arrive." _

"Then at least do me the common courtesy of giving your name."

_"Of course, Lexaeus. You may call me Mairsile."_

And that was that. From the bird's tone Lexaeus knew he wasn't getting any more information from it. So he leaned back slightly in his seat. Although it frustrated him, he would simply have to wait and find out what was going on from whoever Mairsile was taking them to meet with.

_"I suggest you follow the example your friend is setting and get some sleep, Lexaeus. I shall waken you when the ship is about to land."_

"Forgive me if I don't trust you enough to fall asleep when my only other companion is also sleeping."

_"Very well."_ with that the bird spread its wings and nimbly took to the air. Soft feathers brushing against the side of the man's face as it did so. The eagle hovered so that its amber eyes were level with Lexaeus'. It was barely three inches away from his face. _"Then you should at the very least rest. It wouldn't do if something should happen because you were low on energy due to your suspicions."_ it said calmly, not even sounding remotely hurt by the man's earlier comment about not trusting it. If anything the bird sounded amused.

Lexaeus merely grunted in response. He didn't like talking to this creature. As his eyes started to close so that he could rest a while, he noticed a glint appear in the birds eyes making it seem to be smirking. And then he noticed the blood-red symbol on its forehead. A winged serpent surrounded by three interwoven lines shaped into a ring. How did he not notice it before? This marking was in no way a natural one.

* * *

"Get up, Number Nine. We're here." 

Demyx groaned and pulled the hood of his Organization coat further over his face. "Nngh... five more minutes..." Lexaeus sighed and became more vigorous with his shaking of the younger Nobody's shoulder. Finally the blonde gave a defeated groan and got to his feet. "Alright already..." he muttered through a yawn.

Lexaeus was sure that he heard the blonde grumbling to himself about how the world was determined to deprive him of his sleep. Or something along those lines at least. This made a smile tug at the man's lips for a moment. Mairsile was drifting along a little ways in front of the two Nobodies, leading the way to what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse that had fallen into severe disrepair. The building itself was rather large, probably enough to fit the current population of Hollow Bastion twice over.

The surrounding area was eerily quiet and the ground was covered in a layer of ash. Having now gotten over his irritation at being woken up, Demyx was keeping as close to his large companion as possible. Their guide obviously spotted this because it spoke to Demyx. _"There's no need to be nervous or afraid, my friend."_

Demyx glared. "I'm _not_ scared!"

His protest triggered the smirk-glint (as Lexaeus had started calling it) to appear once again in the bird's eyes. _"If you say so."_ there was a definite hint of amusement in Mairsile's tone. _"It would be wise to stay quiet from now until we get inside." _the bird warned seriously, no trace of amusement to be detected in its voice.

"How come?" Demyx questioned, his face still showed signs of annoyance but they were quickly being replaced with nervous curiosity. Almost as soon as the blonde had finished speaking there was a low rumbling and all around the larger rocks appeared to be shifting, like someone having a restless sleep. Accompanying the shifting were various throaty growls. This made the poor Nobody squeak in surprise, and slight fear, almost jumping to cling onto Lexaeus.

Again Lexaeus spotted the smirk-glint. _"As long as you keep the noise to a bare minimum they shouldn't wake up." _Mairsile assured him.

Demyx gulped and gave a slight nod as they continued on their way. The nearer they came to the run-down building the less ash there seemed to be lying on the ground. Lexaeus even noticed a rise in the temperature among other things. Demyx, however, was too preoccupied with trying not to awaken whatever creatures were sleeping around them.

When they reached the entrance they were greeted by a man, covered head-to-toe in what could only be described as red and black monk-robes, the hood up so that even his face was hidden from their view. A single piece of armour donned his left shoulder, held in place by a black leather strap across his back and chest. "Kyndeyrn was starting to worry." he said to Mairsile as he proceeded to open the door. The hinges must have been very well-oiled because although it seemed rusty the door swung easily without so much as a groan. Without another word the man held open the door, head bowed respectfully and his free arm across his chest, fingers pointing inwards (much in the fashion of a butler).

_"Thank you, Agro."_ he merely responded with a grunt and a nod before closing the door behind them, remaining on the outside which appeared to be his appointed post.

"Who's Kyndeyrn?" asked Demyx, apparently relaxing a little being free from the danger of waking up those strange creatures outside.

_"The man who shall take you to your friends."_

A high-pitched whistle echoed through the hall as the lights gradually grew brighter. About ten feet away stood yet another man, garbed in the same fashion as Agro had been, his arm raised slightly in front of him. "Mairsile." his voice was soft and enticing as he called the eagle to him. Although the command had not been needed. Mairsile was over half-way there before he had even uttered her name.

The bird landed gently on his outstretched arm and crooned affectionately as she rubbed her forehead up against the side of the man's face through his hood. "Good girl. Go rest up now. After I have taken care of our guests then I shall come and see you."

After an affectionate nibble at the man's finger, Mairsile took to the air and was soon gone from sight. The man then turned to face the two Nobodies and gave a slight bow. "Welcome. Lexaeus, Demyx." he addressed by order of rank within the Organization. Straightening up he motioned for the two to join him. "I am Kyndeyrn, the one in charge of this humble base." he said, voice holding an even rhythm as well as a respectful tone. "Come, we have many things to discuss."

* * *

A/N: Okay that's chapter four up. Mairsile, Agro and Kyndeyrn are all original characters, like most of the gang from Hollow Bastion that didn't appear in the actual game, owned by me. Their names are not made up, they are real names of a Celtic origin. Anyways I'm glad I finally got this chapter up even though I'm not too keen on it, oh well it does what it was meant to do so that's fine with me. As always reviews are greatly appreciated. The wait for the next chapter could be a while because, starting tomorrow, I will be having my Standard Grade exams. 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay guys a week off so I should be able o get at least two chapters up before I have to start the rest of my exams.

* * *

"Come we have much to discuss." 

"First things first." said Lexaeus just as the man was about to head off. He turned back to face the two Nobodies in a questioning manner which was obvious despite the fact that the hood of his robes still completely hid his face from view.

"Yeah, we were told we would see the others when we got here." Demyx added, no longer staying instinctively close to Lexaeus.

"Indeed that is correct. Very well then. They're through this way." Kyndeyrn's voice still retained a polite respectfulness, never altering its steady pace or missing a single beat. "Come. I'm sure you both have many questions which you would like answered. However shall we save those untill after your reunion?" and with that Kyndeyrn began walking, his strides long and precise never altering, yet slow and patient at the same time. Demyx and Lexaeus followed after him.

The younger Nobody appeared excited, a grin plastered onto his face. However Lexaeus was uneasy. He didn't like the feel of this place or the way these robed people acted.

Every so often they would pass another robed figure. The only clear visual differences, aside from their height and build (becaeuse of the manner of the clothing gender was also rather difficult to determine), were the varying pieces of armour they wore. Some, like Kyndeyrn and Agro, preferred to only wear a few pieces on (one or both) shoulders. While others wore a few bits and pieces here and there or a simple two-piece which covered the entire torso.

These robed figures would all bow to Kyndeyrn and utter respectful greetings, both to him and the two Nobodies as they passed by.

Occasionally Lexaeus was sure that he could hear agonized yells and screams from somewhere in the large, run-down building. But, because they were always so brief and faint, he dismissed them as figments of his imagination created by his unease.

Demyx kept looking around, searching for something of interest in the dimly lit hallways they passed through. His search seemed to prove fruitless because he soon gave up and a look of boredom flashed in his eyes although the rest of his face still showed the same excitement at getting to see their comreades again.

The younger Nobody didn't notice Kyndeyrn halt in his tracks. Lexaeus had to reach out and grab the blonde's shoulder to keep him from walking into the man. Kyndeyrn appeared not to notice this as he opened a door which was barely visible in the poor light. "In here."

Both Nobodies stepped into the room needing no further prompting, immediately noticing a rise in the temperature. There was a small click and the room was flooded with light. Demyx had let out a small noise of surprise as he rubbed his eyes and proceeded to blink them in order to adjust to the new brightness. Lexaeus merely winced slightly as he let his own, blue, eyes adjust to the sudden change.

When they could see again, both Nobodies looked around the room. Half-expecting Xigbar to randomly hang upside down from the ceiling in front of them or Marluxia and Axel in some sort of debate.

"I thought you said they were in here." said Demyx, voicing both of their thoughts as he turned to face Kyndeyrn. Lexaeus nodded in agreement, his eyes narrowing slightly with suspicion.

"They are." said the robed man simply as his finger expertly flicked the switch beside the one that had turned on the lights.

"What're you--" but Demyx cut himself off with a yelp of surprise, instinctively grabbing hold of Lexaeus' arm, as the floor started to open up and a platform began rising.

"What the hell?" muttered Lexaeus as a set of ten silver pod-like tubes came into view. As soon as the platform was level with the room's floor, Demyx raced over to the nearest pod. A startled gasp escaped from the blonde Nobody's lips when he looked inside of it. "No way!"

"Number Nine?" Lexaeus questioned carfully taking a few steps closer. He could see the Nocturne's face paling and received no response from the other. "Demyx?" he tried again, a little louder this time. The blonde looked at Lexaeus as he also reached the pod and looked inside.

Whatever the man had been expecting when he looked it had not been this. Fully submerged in some kind of bubbling liquid, hair floating gently around his features, was none other than the Organization's Number Seven. Saix, the Luna Diviner. The Nobody's eyes were shut and his body was completely limp. He wasn't wearing the standard leather coat or boots of the Organization's uniform. Only the trousers and two leather straps around his torso, and attached to the back of the silver pod, to keep him upright and not slumping into the glass causing himself an injury. This was not the Saix either of them remembered. He looked pathetic and weak rather than the stoic second-in-command they had become accustomed to.

In disbelief Lexaeus looked around the room at the other pods only to be met with the nine other members of the Organization held up in a similar manner and in the same unconscious state as Saix. They had also been stripped down in the same way as Saix had been, although Larxene, it seemed, had been allowed to keep on the tight-fitting black top she always wore which was little more than a bra.

Demyx had immediately raced towards the three pods which contained Xigbar, Zexion and Luxord. Lexaeus could feel his blood starting to boil with remembered rage at the sight and he rounded on Kyndeyrn who had been watching their reactions in silence.

"What the hell is this?!" demanded the giant. All his usual patience and his calm exterior had disappeared at the disturbing sight of all ten of his comrades in such a pathetic state. And, what's more, stored in pods like specimens in some kind of sick, twisted experiment.

Kyndeyrn remained unphased by the intimidating Lexaeus and merely walked calmly to the desk at the other end of the room. "They were like this when they were resurrected. This way we can keep them alive with the minimal amount of consequences." he explained. Lexaeus' fists clenched. Kyndeyrn's voice was still the same as when they had first met him. The robed man gestured at the couch in front of the desk, indicating for the two Nobodies to take a seat.

Once both of them were seated, Kyndeyrn spoke again. "Now I know you have many questions but they shall wait until after I have finished."

Beside him, Lexaeus could see that Demyx had a look of remembered disbelieving anger on his face. Much the same as Lexaeus had earlier. The blonde must have been as disgusted as Lexaeus had been at the sight.

"First of all myself and the others who reside here are but a small faction of a much larger order. The Dorchadas." he began. Lexaeus recognized the word as belonging to an old language which had fallen into disuse not long ago although he could not remember a meaning for it. "Like Organization XIII was, we are neither of the light nor are we of the darkness. But unlike you we are not Nobodies, we still have our hearts." Demyx's hands clenched themselves into fists at Kyndeyrn's words. Undeterred the robed man continued. "Which brings us to the reason for your being here. While on patrol, searching out new worlds, some of our members came across an amazing discovery. This sparked a full-scale search of the world they had found. Soon all twelve of them came into our posession."

"All twelve of what?" asked Demyx. Had they been able to see Kyndeyrn's face the two Nobodies were positive that thy would have seen a smirk forming.

"All twelve of the hearts belonging to the group of Nobodies formerly known as Organization XIII."

* * *

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry I made you wait longer for a shorter than normal chapter. But it did what it was supposed to do and the plot has finally arrived! As always reviews of all kinds are appreciated. Hopefully chapter six will be up before the exams start up again so until next time. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Ou-our hearts?"

Kyndeyrn nodded. "That is correct. As of yet they remain untouched and your comrades have not had them returned." Lexaeus was positive he could hear the smirk in the man's voice and it made his hands clench into fists again. "There is no need to get upset over this my friend. Mairsile told you they were here. And here they are. She did not, however, make any promises as to their conditions. That was you." he leaned back in his chair, far too casually for someone who has two powerful Nobodies ready to decapitate him at any given moment. "As I'm sure, my dear, Mairsile has told you. We are in need of your aid. In return we are willing to give back the hearts we have obtained."

"What exactly is it that you want? Why go through all this trouble?" it was a struggle but Lexaeus was able to keep his voice calm as he spoke, his eyes never leaving where Kyndeyrn's face should be.

"Have you ever heard of Kier Crystals?" Kyndeyrn asked them, his voice becoming serious again. Apparently getting his answer from the looks on the faces of the two Nobodies he continued. "The Kier Crystals have many mystical properties." reaching into his pocket he took out a small object, seemingly no bigger than a child's bouncing ball. Opening his hand he held out a jagged-looking crystal. In the center it was a deep blood-red color but gradually changed to icy blue at the tips of the points.

Demyx reached out and took the crystal in his own hand, a look of awe on his face as he looked at it. Turning it around to see all of it before giving it to Lexaeus whose eyes took in every detail of the crystal as they scanned over it.

"Not all Kier Crystals look like this one. The colors and sizes vary. We think they may hold some significance as to the properties of the crystals but as of yet we have no clear proof or theories. Much like you Lexaeus, you and the other 'original six' we are scientists. The Kier Crystals are what we are researching. And we need you and Demyx to gather the crystals for us."

Lexaeus' eyes narrowed as he set the crystal back down onto the desk between him and Kyndeyrn. He wanted to strangle the life out of that man for what he had done to the rest of the Organization. Saїx's, Vexen's and Zexion's unconscious bodies flashed into his mind, fuelling the memory of anger.

"What are you planning on using the crystals for?" asked Demyx, he looked about ready to attack Kyndeyrn at any moment as well. But was controlling himself because he knew the fate of their comrades was in his the hands of the robed man.

"That is nothing to concern yourselves with. All you need to know is that the more crystals you bring to us the more of your fellow Nobodies will regain what they have sought for so long." replied Kyndeyrn replacing the crystal into his pocket. "I do not expect an answer right away." he added standing up. "You can have an hour to think over what I've said. Then I'll come back here for your answer. Think it over carefully, my friends." and without another word he left.

* * *

Lexaeus stood before the pods containing Zexion and Vexen. Even before they had lost their hearts the three of them had been inseperable, that bond had continued to a certain degree although they were technically unable to feel it. 

From the corner of his eye he saw Demyx in front of Xigbar's pod. The blonde had spent some time going between the pods containing the Nobodies he had been closest to. These being Xigbar, Axel and surprisingly enough Saїx. To an extent he'd gotten along well enough with Zexion as well. But had enough common sense to see that Lexaeus had been a lot closer to the Schemer and so respectfully kept out of the way.

Their hour was almost over and neither had spoken to each other about the question both of them were faced with. It was Demyx who first voiced this. "What do ya think Lexaeus?"

He shook his head. "We can't trust them."

"I know... I'm not saying we should. That would be stupid. I'm just asking if you think we really have any choice in the matter." he replied quietly.

Lexaeus looked over towards the blonde Neophyte. The usual naїve optimism was no longer present on his face. It had been replaced by a grim look of barely disguised disgust. More and more the stereotypes given to Demyx by the rest of the Organization were being proved wrong. He might be against fighting whenever possible and at times he could be childish. But he wasn't a weakling, nor was he ignorant. He knew full well the weight of the responsibility that had been placed on their shoulders. "No I don't think we do Number Nine." Lexaeus sighed.

"So we help them then." it was a statement rather than a question, the blonde's voice sounded bitter as he spoke.

The larger Nobody nodded grimly. "Yes we help them." he saw Demyx open his mouth to say something else but shut it again as Kyndeyrn re-entered the room.

"I trust the two of you have reached your decision?" he asked them. Voice betraying nothing of what he was thinking or feeling, much like Gav had been in the presence of the other teenagers at Hollow Bastion. Although they could not see the man's eyes they could feel them boring into them much like invisible drills.

"We've decided to assisst you." said Lexaeus calmly.

It was fairly obvious that, beneath the hood which shrouded his face from view, Kyndeyrn was overjoyed at this. But somehow the man's voice retained it's calm tone and steady pace. "Thank you, my friends. I trust that you know what it is you need to do?"

"I have a fair idea. But maybe you should tell us. To avoid any misjudgements." he could see that Demyx was getting a little frustrated, probably wanting out of this place as soon as physically possible. Lexaeus didn't blame him. In fact he wanted out just as badly as the other, but if possible he wanted to get information from Kyndeyrn that may help them figure out exactly what had happened in the decade or so they had been banished into darkness.

"Of course. Since all of the members of Dorchadas are currently needed for other buisness. We recquire you and your young companion to travel the worlds in search of the Kier Crystals so that we may continue our research. In return, once we are satisfied we shall return your hearts. As well as those belonging to your fellow Nobodies. I also have a word of advice. Start your search in a place called Halloween Town. There is a high concentration of the Kier Crystals' energy in that world. However for some unknown reason none of us have been able to travel into that world. So your search in Halloween Town should prove to be most bountiful." he said, traces of a smirk underlying his words.

But apparently he wasn't finished talking yet. "As a mark of good faith I have taken the liberty of finding this address. She's an old acquinatance of _ours_." the way he put emphasis on the word 'ours' made Lexaeus narrow his eyes slightly in suspicion. Seemingly unphased Kyndeyrn contnued. "She specifically requested that we send you to see her first before starting your search. I believe she may have information of sorts that will prove usefull to you. You can find her in a place called Twighlight Town." with that Kyndeyrn placed a sheet of white paper into Demyx's hand. "Agro will escort you back to your Gummi Ship." he added, wavng a hand in the direction of the large man who had let them into the building when Mairsile was taking them to Kyndeyrn.

Agro inclined his head slightly then straightened up, waiting for the two Nobodies to approach the door so that they could proceed. He allowed them out of the room before following silently. This time nobody passed them by in the corridors. And the shrieks of pain were more audible than the had been earlier. Agro opened the door leading outside for the two Nobodies allowing them to step outside before, once again, following.

He noticed Demyx trying hard not to disturb the creatures which lay, almost invisible, around them. "Mairsile is a joker by nature do not take her words seriously." Agro's deep gravelly voice held a reassuring tone to it. When Demyx looked at him in puzzlement he added "They're harmless. Do not worry about waking them. Not that you could, they are sound sleepers."

Once at the Gummi Ship, Agro placed a hand on Demyx's shoulder gently but firm enough to prevent him from going any further. Using his free hand he lowered the hood of his robes to reveal a handsom tanned face framed with a shaggy mane of black hair and icy blue-grey eyes. "Go raibh an grásta Dé leat." he said, a smile gracing his features as he kissed the tips of his fore and middle fingers before touching them to the forehead of each Nobody. An easy task as he rivaled Lexaeus in height and build. "Bíodh ádh ort."

"What? I don't understand what you just said." said Demyx, Agro's smile widened a little.

"I said: Go raibh an grásta Dé leat. May the grace of God be with you. Then afterwards: Bíodh ádh ort. For luck."

"So that thing where you kissed your fingers and-"

"Aye, a good luck gesture. Much more effective than a charm." then Agro's smile faded and he raised the hood of his robes to cover his face once more. "Be careful. And don't worry I'll look after them." he added gruffly before jogging back to the entrance to the warehouse.

Demyx was about to call after Agro, to ask what he was talking about but Lexaeus cut him off. Placing a hand on the Neophyte's shoulder and leading him onboard the Gummi Ship. "Let's go Number Nine." the blonde hesitated but slowly nodded and allowed the large Nobody to lead him inside.

"Where first then? Halloween Town? Or do we see this person that Kyndeyrn gave us the address for?" asked the Nocturne as he sat in the passenger seat of the cockpit.

"I wouldn't trust anyone that man calls an acquaintance. We'll start with Halloween Town then we'll see her." said Lexaeus as he sat down and began pushing the necessary buttons to start the launch sequence.

Demyx nodded in agreement. "Yeah, alright then." there was a heavy silence between the two Nobodies as the Gummi Ship took off and left that wasteland of a world. "Lexaeus?"

"Hmm?"

"Ya think it was them that wasted Hollow Bastion? That it was them Gav was tryin' to stop us running into?" he asked his superior slowly. He still remembered the frantic look in the albino girl's eyes as she'd ordered them to leave Hollow Bastion during all of the commotion outside.

"It's more than likely, yes." Lexaeus confirmed Demyx's suspicions grimly.

"Think they're alright? I mean things sounded like they were getting bad when we left." but Lexaeus shook his head in response.

"Sorry, Demyx. I can't answer that. Though I would like to know myself. We owe her for the help." he replied, voice a little less grim than it had been back at the warehouse. "Hey, why don't you check in those backpacks. See what they gave us." he suggested, figuring it would take Demyx's mind off of the subject for a while. It was almost unnerving how Demyx could be so different from his general reputation within the Organization.

The blonde nodded. Yeah, sure thing." he said before getting up and leaving to the storage area in the back, leaving Lexaeus alone for a while.

He found the backpacks and sat down, drawing them beside him to make things easier. Sifting through the contents of the first one he found about three changes of clothing each for the both of them as well as a bag containing roughly a few hundred munny. Moving onto the next one he found sandwiches, bottles of water as well as some high-sugar-content snacks and various other items of that sort. About enough to last them maybe a week?

Noticing a small piece of paper attached to the back of one of the backpacks Demyx took and unfolded it beofre reading.

_Hope this is enough to keep you going. We would have given you more if we had enough resources ourselves. Anyway good luck in your journey. We hope you find your friends soon. Any time you're in Hollow Bastion don't hesitate to pay us a visit. Stay safe._

_Yours sincerely: Aerith, Yuffie, Leon, Cid, Gav, Kenna, Bane, Katch and everyone else here in Hollow Bastion._

A smile spread across Demyx's face as he read the message before pocketing it and taking both of the backpacks with him to the cockpit where he told Lexaeus the contents of the backpacks. When he told his superior about the note he gladly read it out at the other's request.

A smile tugged at Lexaeus' lips as well when he heard what had been written. "Funny, I didn't expect Bane and Kenna to want us back there any time soon. Thought they wanted rid of us."

Demyx grinned and shrugged his shoulders, leaning back into his seat. "Maybe it's their way of saying sorry for the way they acted when we first met them.They didn't exactly seem like people to apologize to someone's face unless forced to."

"Maybe." Lexaeus nodded in agreement.

* * *

A/N: Well that's chapter six up. Alright first of all a big thnk you to Sylla and Xejicka who have been reviewing the most. And to everyone else who's been reviewing. It's because of them that I've even made it up to chapter six.

Secondly for those of you who are wondering about Agro speaking in another language. Those were actual phrases from Irish-gaelic. I can't make any promises as to the acurateness of the translations because I found them on a random forum, but they should be pretty accurate.

Also the word 'Dorchadas' means Darkness in some form of Gaelic.

As always reviews are welcome and I'll see you next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait! I don't know why but this chapter was a real pain in the arse to write. It took forever to write the first couple of paragraphs and even longer to get the rest out... anyways I hope it's alright. And I'm gonna try and get the next chapter up soon to make it up to you guys.

* * *

Demyx sighed and leaned back in his seat. In the pilot's seat Lexaeus' head was resting on his hand as he caught up on two nights of missed sleep. It had been the blonde who'd convinced him to get some sleep before they arrived at Halloween Town, saying that he looked exhausted. The larger Nobody had just nodded and let the Gummi Ship's auto-pilot do the flying for a while. Lexaeus had fallen asleep in a matter of minutes. 

That had been about two and a half hours ago now and Demyx was starting to fall asleep as well from having nothing to do. Leaning forward he checked their progress on the monitor. "Whoa, we're nearly there already." figuring now would be a good time to awaken his companion; Demyx reached over and began to shake the man's shoulder. "Hey, Lexaeus, wake up." he said, having realized that the older Nobody would not be woken by shaking alone. There was a small grunt and Lexaeus shifted slightly in his seat. "Lexaeus!" Demyx tried a little louder this time.

A groan escaped from the man's lips as his eyes opened slowly. "What is it, Number Nine?" his voice came out as a grumble.

"We're gonna be there in a few minutes." the blonde informed him. Lexaeus gave a small nod and took control of the Gummi Ship again.

"Have you ever been to been to Halloween Town before?" he asked, turning his head to face Demyx, as he began the decent to the world below. The blonde shook his head.

"Xemnas thought I wouldn't do too well on missions there. Why? What's it like?"

"Hard to explain. But you'll see once we disembark."

* * *

Demyx had almost jumped out of his skin. Once he and Lexaeus had left the Gummi ship, a freakishly tall suit-wearing skeleton had pounced in front of them and shrieked. The noise alone would have put a banshee to shame, but coupled with the eerie glow of the full moon on the mist that surrounded them and the creature's face practically screaming 'undead cannibal', it was a very scary thing. 

Lexaeus had remained unphased, simply inclining his head saying: "Jack."

The skeleton grinned at the two Nobodies and shook their hands. "It's been far too long since you -or any of your friends- has visited us here in Halloween Town, Lexaeus. Things have been rather dull of late." then he turned to Demyx, grin turning practically malicious. "And you! That was one of the _best_ reactions I've recieved for a long time. Quite an interesting costume as well. I must say that the drowned look really is becoming on you. My name is Jack Skellington, and I'm the Pumpkin King here in Halloween Town. What would your name be?"

"Eh? Oh, I'm Demyx." he had been slightly distracted by the mention of 'costumes'. Looking over at Lexaeus he noticed that his suerior was, indeed, different. His Organization's uniform had been replaced with ragged -dirty- denim, torn leather and dull metal chains. And his skin was grey! He looked like some kind of undead biker.

Turning his attention to himself, Demyx noticed the blue-tinged-pale- complexion of his skin. And the loose, wispy, grey material which hung off of his body instead of his own uniform. What kind of place was this?

"Marvelous! Well, Demyx. Lexaeus. Let us return to doctor Finklestein's lab. Anything that needs to be said can be done so there, accompanied by some excellent cuisine- courtesy of my wife, Sally." he declared dramatically.

Lexaeus nodded in agreement and followed Jack as if nothing was, at all, out of the ordinary. His pace easily matching that of the unnaturally tall skeleton. "H-hey! Wait up!" Demyx called as he ran to catch up with them.

* * *

The lab was interesting, to say the least. Countless organisms of all kinds were contained in jars lining the shelves on the walls. A large metal table was where Sally placed their food and drink, although it seemed more fit to be a site of torture. Where the victim would be chained down and the various sharp and unpleasent objects littering the room would be used to inflict pain upon the unfortunate. 

Sally seemed nice enough. Despite her patchwork appearance, personality-wise she was easily the most 'normal' person in the entire town.

Dr. Finklestein was definitely tempermental although decent enough when Lexaeus showed an interest in one of his latest experiments. In many ways he was a lot like Vexen, the Organization's number Four, also known as the 'Chilly Academic'. That is, if Vexen could unhinge his cranium to scratch at his brain anyway.

Jack sighed. "Even the Heartless have stopped visiting Halloween Town. Every year becomes less and less exciting..." then his face brightened up. "But now that you fellows are here perhaps we may be able to reignite the excitement that we used to feel for our holiday! Although it might have worked out better if all of you had come, I'm positive we can make it work with just the two of you."

"Unfortunately our stay here really has to be a brief one, I don't think that we'll have enough time--" Lexaeus was cut off by Jack waving his bony hand dismissively.

"Nonsense, dear boy. There will be more than enough time for Jack's plan as well as whatever purpose you and your young friend have come here for." the whirring and clicking of the doctor's wheelchair started once more then stopped when he was right beside the large Nobody. He patted the man's arm with his gloved hand. "You may even stay here, in my home, until it is over."

"Thank you, really. But seriously we don't have any time to spare." said Demyx, finally finding his voice again. "We'd like to help but this is really important."

"I see. Well it isn't our place to force you into helping us. What is the purpose for your visit anyway? It's been so long since any of you came here and suddenly you appear without any warning."

Lexaeus reached into his pocket and took out the Kier Crystal that Kyndeyrn had given them and presented it to the others in his open palm. "This is why. We need to locate as many of these crystals as possible and _quickly_."

Sally's expression was awe-struck as she gazed at the small crystal. "It's beautiful..." she whispered.

Almost immediately Dr. Finklestein snatched it out of Lexaeus' palm and began to examine it closely. "Remarkable. Simply remarkable. So these gems _are_ of some value, whether scientific or no."

"So you've seen some of these before?" Demyx questioned, voice quivering with excitement. Sure Kyndeyrn had told them that this first world would be an easy place to start off in, but neither Nobody had actually believed his words. After all who in their right mind would trust a man who had treated your friends like worthless animals in order to gain what he desired from you.

"Of course I have! There are many of them down in the basement. I collected them in my youth, believing them to have unknown scientific properties. Alas my research produced to results and I had given up on trying."

Sally stood up and offered a sweet smile towards the two Nobodies. "Here, I'll show you to the basement."

"They're in the casket just below the shelf containing Igor's diagrams." Dr. Finklestein called after them as they followed the gir downstairs.

* * *

Sure enough when they opened the casket it was full of the mysterious crystals. Just as Kyndeyrn had told them, the crystals varied in both size and color. Some as big as Lexaeus' fist, while others were no larger than a small marble. A few of them had only one color in them, simply getting paler towards the tips, while others had up to four.

"So, Kyndeyrn wasn't kidding when he said that they were all different." Demyx muttered as he picked up an orange one. Lexaeus nodded, he was gazing into a black and purple crystal. Then he closed the casket, placing their respective crystals inside.

"It's a good start at any rate." he agreed, lifting the chest with ease and holding it against his side using one arm. "Let's go. The sooner we speak with this 'acquaintace' Kyndeyrn spoke of the better."

* * *

A/N: Whew, glad that one's over. Anyways again I'm really sorry about the wait, thanks for being patient. And for all of you who reviewed, I love you guys and probably wouldn't have written past chapter one if it hadn't been for you. Also it took forever to think up costumes for those two when they visited Halloween Town...

OK like I said earlier I'm going to try and get the next chapter up quick and make it a bit longer than this one to make it up to you guys. As always any form of reviews are appreciated (and if anyone knows if I'm keeping Lexaeus relatively in character then let me know because I have only just started playing Chain of Memories).


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: As promised here's chapter eight, yeah there's a lot of talking in it but other than that I'm pretty chuffed with the results.

* * *

"I'm sorry that your stay could not have been longer. Perhaps next time you visit you'll have more time and possibly bring a few more of your friends with you." Jack didn't really seem bothered by the situation. He once again shook hands with both of the Nobodies. "Farewell and have a frightfully horrible journey!" he added pleasantly.

"Uh… thanks?" Demyx responded confusedly as he turned to re-board the Gummi Ship. As soon as the doors opened Jack leapt into view from _inside_ the ship, leering hungrily at them. The Nocturne shrieked in surprise, stumbling backwards into Lexaeus who steadied him with one hand.

The skeleton laughed maniacally. "Good show! I do look forward to your next visit!" he announced, nimbly exiting from the ship to allow the two Nobodies onboard.

* * *

"That place was really weird." Demyx stated.

Lexaeus shrugged. "You get used to it. The inhabitants aren't all that bad really; they just like to scare people."

"I guess." The blond-haired Nobody lazily reached into the casket beside him and took out one of the crystals, peering into it like a gypsy would a crystal ball. "Hey, what kinda things d'ya suppose these crystals can do?" he wondered out loud as he leaned back just a little in the passenger seat which had been unofficially dubbed 'Demyx's Chair' (Like the pilot seat had been dubbed 'Lexaeus' Chair')

"If we had any ideas on that, Nine, then maybe we would already be thinking of a way to retrieve the hearts without giving Kyndeyrn what he wants." he responded, calmly maneuvering the Gummi Ship to avoid any obstacles..

"Alright, alright, I was only asking." said the blond quickly, returning the crystal to the casket. "How much longer 'till we get to Twilight Town then?"

Lexaeus didn't reply. Instead the sudden jerking motion of the ship beginning its descent answered Demyx's question.

The landing was fairly straightforward. No-one got in the way of the ship and the town seemed relatively peaceful. "If possible, avoid befriending any of the locals. I want to get this done with as soon as we can." Lexaeus told his younger companion firmly. He really didn't like the feel of this situation; it felt too much like some kind of trap laid by the Dorchadas.

Demyx nodded. "Yeah, something's off about this." he said in agreement to the larger Nobody's unspoken suspicion. "But at least we don't have to wear some weird costume this time." he added, attempting to lighten his companion's mood. Lexaeus just nodded and pushed the button to open the doors.

Standing outside the ship was a rather tall tanned man beside a shorter albino woman. "Follow!" she ordered, pointing at the two Nobodies.

"We've been waiting for you guys, y'know?" added the man.

"What—"

Demyx was cut off by the woman's foot colliding painfully with his shin. "Quiet!" she ordered in her stern monotone.

"Uh it's better if ya just do what she says." the tanned man offered while putting a placating hand on her shoulder. "You're questions'll be answered when ya see Auntie, y'know?" and he proceeded to drag Demyx along with him by the bicep. Lexaeus right behind him with the woman glaring dangerously at his back.

"I'm Rai and this is Fuu, y'know?" 'Rai' told them almost cheerfully, "Auntie asked us to wait here then take you two to see her, y'know?"

Fuu slammed her foot forward into Rai's leg, causing the man to curse loudly and hop a little on one foot. "Idiot." she stated, tone almost affectionate, before turning to face both Nobodies and adding: "Inside." monotonously, pointing at the door to a plain-looking building.

"Don't bother knocking; she's expecting ya, y'know?" Rai gave them a grin before walking away with Fuu who had taken his hand and was leading him away.

Before Demyx had a chance to think, Lexaeus had led him inside. "In the livin' room!" a short, dark-skinned woman pointed into a room at the other side of the hall. "Dog'll keep ya company. I'll be through in a minute." she grunted, disappearing back into the kitchen before they had a chance to get a good look at her.

Almost as soon as they'd sat themselves down, the woman walked in setting two mugs down onto the table in front of them. Keeping one mug for herself she sat down in the free chair, the greyhound at her feet staring intently at the visitors.

"Drink up. I ain't tryin' t' poison ya."

The young blond hesitantly took a sip but his larger, older, companion kept his gaze on the woman. She was frail and unhealthily thin. Although obviously not long into her fifties she looked more like seventy. But at the same time she held a stubborn, purposeful air about her. "You're th' ones they chose fer their little task, eh?" she asked calmly, taking a long drink from her mug. "Can't say I'm surprised or nothin' though."

"Who are you?" Lexaeus questioned, face and voice completely unreadable. Her thin lips curled into a humorless smirk.

"Guess it were too much t' ask fer, eh?"

"What was?" the Nocturne questioned, setting down his mug. His question was ignored completely; instead the woman's dark brown eyes connected with Lexaeus' deep blue ones.

"My name's Sierra, Lexaeus." underlying her voice there was a constant animalistic growl. It wasn't menacing and changed to match the tone that her voice took. "Fifty one years old. Former mercenary and friend of the seven greatest minds what ever lived in Radiant Garden." at those words a knowing glint crept into her eyes and the dog held its head up in an almost smug manner. "Ansem the Wise and his six apprentices."

Lexaeus visibly tensed and his eyes narrowed. A harsh, barking laugh escaped from the woman's throat. "I ring any bells yet, … _Aeleus_?" she asked, eyes never once blinking or breaking contact with his.

Demyx looked from one to the other, clearly confused. "What's she talking about Lexaeus?" he asked.

"That used to be his name. Didn't it, love? Back when lives were lived without a care and Heartless were rarer than the sight of a blue moon." Sierra continued, once again taking no notice of the fact that Demyx had spoken. Her attentions were fixed upon the larger, and more formidable, of the two Nobodies.

"How is it that _you_ got mixed up with Kyndeyrn and the Dorchadas? Were you working with them even back then?" Lexaeus snarled, finally breaking the silence he's descended into.

"So ya do remember. Good, means less explainin' for me." Sierra snorted, leaning further back into her chair. All three mugs sat forgotten on the small table. "You should know better than t' hafta ask me that Lexaeus!" she added with a hiss, a bitter tone creeping into her voice at the use of his name. "No I wasn't. Not 'till two years after th' Heartless consumed your heart along with those of the other apprentices. An' I'll tell ya this right now, Nobody, the time I spent in their ranks was worse than _Hell_!" at the accusing use of the term 'Nobody' Demyx's jaws clenched and his hands balled into fists.

Undaunted, the woman continued. "I'da gladly traded hells with a Nobody. Any Nobody. Better t' lose a heart than t' suffer repeated breakin' of the soul 'till yer naught but a whipped pup. Desperate t' please th' higher ups so's punishment would be avoided." she laughed bitterly.

"Wait a sec! How do you two know each other?!" the Nocturne blurted out.

"We don't. Not technically. My original self knew her." Lexaeus explained, he hadn't flinched nor reacted in any way to Sierra's sharp tones and bitter accusatory comments.

"More 'n' that though. Look at this, kid." Sierra pulled a plain golden band from her ring finger and casually handed it to the young blond.

The Silent Hero's eyes widened briefly before returning to their normal state. "You kept that…?" he almost whispered.

"'Course I did!" she snapped, snatching the ring back from Demyx as he handed it to her. "Meant th' goddamn world t'me, jus' like _he_ did!" Sierra took hold of her mug and took a long, calming drink of the hot soothing liquid within it. "An' that's th' only reason I'm tryin' t' help th' two of ya right now. If it weren't for that you and the rest of your friends could rot in Hell as far as I'd care."

Although her voice was calm, Demyx couldn't hide a wince at the venom behind the last statement. Lexaeus' fists clenched. "But I owe Aeleus something. And this is th' last chance'm ever gonna get t' set stuff right between me an' him."

"What happened?" he couldn't help himself. Demyx wanted to know! Lexaeus had always been closed off, never talking about himself and in return not expecting anyone to tell him about their lives. But right here and now there was a chance to find out, at least a little, about the man's past. A privilege none of the other members of Organization XIII (excluding the other original six) had.

"I ran off. No goodbyes, no explanations not even an apology. Two days after Aeleus gave me that ring. Never saw each other again after that." Sierra told him calmly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to abandon one's significant other two days after receiving a promise ring from them.

"You what?!"

"We ain't here t' lecture me about my past mistakes. Anyways like I said, because I owe Aeleus I'm helping you with this stupid situation y'got yoursels in." she snorted.

"It's not like we had much of a choice!" snapped Demyx. His fists slammed down onto the table, causing the mugs to tremble and a few drops of liquid to fly out of them, glaring at the woman who's eyes now connected with his.

"I know that, kid." her voice softened slightly. "There ain't much I can do, seeing as I only got 'bout a week left. But here's what I _can _do. I can tell you that, while still dangerous, Kyndeyrn and the other high-ranking Dorchadas are nothin' more than puppets. Without the puppeteer they'll be defenseless. Only info I can give there is that th' puppet master behind those bastards is referred to as 'The Mistress'."

"Can you tell us what they plan on using the Kier crystals for?" Lexaeus questioned. With a sigh, Sierra shook her head.

"You'll find out later, though not from me. The only other things I can tell ya are that you will need Sora's help. Th' two of ya can't handle this by yourselves. And Agro is on your side, remember him? Big guy, normally guards the door to Kyndeyrn's base. He _can_ be trusted but none of the other people within that damned organization."

"Sierra, what'd you mean by you've only got 'a week left'?" Demyx asked cautiously, the Nocturne's eyes looking up into hers from the table.

The dark-skinned woman laughed slightly, tucking a stray lock of black hair behind her ear. "I don't got a lot of energy left, kid. M'wasting away. Think it'll be six, maybe seven, days at th' most before my body gives out completely. In other words, I'm gonna be dead before the end of the month."

"W-what?!" at the same time as the Neophyte's outburst, Lexaeus' large hand reached over to grip Sierra's shoulder as a glimmer of remembered compassion gripped him. But she batted his hand away.

"Don't Lexaeus. Much as it might be appreciated, you ain't Aeleus. Just his shadow. I know it must be cruel for me t' say it but, despite the similarities you 'n' him are completely different people. So lemme make this clear. You might be part of who he was but there's no way y'could ever substitute."

Straightening herself up, Sierra took a deep breath then looked straight at both of the Nobodies with a tiny half-smile. "Here, so's he can give it t' someone else if y'manage t' get yer hearts back." she once more pulled the band off of her finger, this time handing it to Lexaeus.

That done, she stood up. At her feet the greyhound, which hadn't budged an inch during the length of their conversation, moved into a sitting position. Its head tilted slightly to one side inquisitively. Sierra nodded slowly. "Yeah, take it from here. I'm tired, gonna get some sleep."

As she turned and headed for the door, Sierra looked briefly over her shoulder. "Look after 'em for me, Zexion." and with that she left.

Almost instantly the image of the greyhound just melted away, in its stead stood a young man who's slate-grey hair fell over one half of his face. His lips curled into a slight smirk as he eyed his fellow Nobodies.

"Don't I even get a hello, Lexaeus, Demyx?"

* * *

A/N: OK I just noticed that I have a tendency to write Demyx getting manhandled by various people. First it was Gav and this time it's Rai. Not to mention picking on him in Halloween Town (Don't worry though Demyx is _not_ a complete wimp in this story!) And about Sierra let me make it very clear she is _not_ there to be paired up with Lexaeus. She was his other's girlfriend and soon-to-be fiancee and holds no feelings for Lexaeus himself. Again I'd like to thank all of my reviewers and as usual all reviews are welcome.

P.S. Yes! Zexion is alive and kicking!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hey, guys. This one would've been up a little sooner but I was away and didn't have internet connection. I actually had two versions of it but this one's definitely the better of the two.

* * *

Before either Demyx or Lexaeus could respond the Cloaked Schemer silenced them with a wave of his hand. "All explanations will be given on board your Gummi Ship. Given the current situation we should let the dieing warrior have the peace she deserves as she lives out her final days.

Not giving either of his fellow Nobodies the chance to protest, Zexion immediately headed out of the door once he had finished speaking. The other two not far behind.

"I trust that you know where you're headed next?" asked Zexion as soon as the doors of the Gummi Ship slid shut.

"I'm taking us to Destiny Islands." Lexaeus responded taking his place in the pilot's chair. "How is it that you're here, Zexion?" he questioned, voice softening as he turned to look over his shoulder at his long-time friend and companion.

"We saw you! Unconscious and floating in one of those pods with the others!"

"Actually what you saw was nothing more than a clone." the Schemer shrugged and sat down in the spare seat, beside Demyx. "Because, unlike you and the others, I wasn't banished into the Darkness." Demyx opened his mouth, presumably to ask a question, but the Nocturne was cut off by Zexion continuing. "Unlike the rest of you I managed to escape my supposed 'destruction'. It was that clone that got sent to the Darkness while I was left free."

"So why didn't you come back? Since you survived why didn't you let us know?" asked Demyx, clearly confused by the whole situation.

"If I had gone back then, either, Axel would have tried to finish the job he started— to save himself more than anything else. Or I would also have met my end at Sora's hands. Neither fate was particularly desirable to say the least. And from the events at Castle Oblivion it didn't take a genius to figure out that the Organization was going to fall— with or without me. So I lay low, ensuring that at least one of us remained."

Pausing briefly Zexion removed his gloves. "During the thirteen years I've been living with Sierra – here in Twilight Town – everything she knew about Dorchadas she told me. Despite this my knowledge still has its limits."

"Then just tell us what you know."

Zexion nodded curtly towards Lexaeus, confirming that had been his plan. First he explained about the simple hierarchy within Dorchadas. At the top was 'The Mistress'. Just below her were the four 'Higher-ups'— Kyndeyrn, Lyall, Cahir and his cousin Cahal. Then there was everyone else.

According to Zexion the Higher-ups were free to do whatever they wanted unless the Mistress specifically forbade or disapproved.

Then he told them about the ability all Dorchadas members had of changing their shape. The other form was an animal, bird or reptile of a predatory nature— complete with the Dorchadas symbol on their forehead. The winged serpent surrounded by three intertwined circles. Each of the four Higher-ups wears a spiked collar at the base of their neck (when in the animal form) so that they stand out from their sub-ordinates.

A dark frown replaced the Cloaked Schemer's normally calm expression. "As for the purpose of the Kier Crystals, Dorchadas use them in various experiments. On humans. Animals. Anything they can get their slimy hands on. It's not uncommon for Dorchadas to experiment on children, or even infants either."

"But that's sick! Why would they do that?!" Demyx blurted out, his face had visibly paled and was twisted in disgust. Zexion just shook his head; apparently his knowledge was more limited than the other two had anticipated.

"What kind of experiments?" Lexaeus asked casually.

"Ones that would turn even Vexen's, Xaldin's and Xigbar's stomachs. Ones that not even Xehanort would have considering attempting." Noticing the casket between his and Demyx's seats, Zexion took out one of the crystals. "Some of the things done with these crystals would make you think that Organization XIII were saints." he half-mused. "There are far too many of these experiments to list so I'll stick with this one. And trust me, with this one experiment you will know what I mean."

Zexion took a relatively deep breath, let it out and started. "It's known as 'The Lycan Project'. And it's the one that Sierra was subjected to. People with dormant, or recessive, lupine genes in their blood— that is to say werewolves. Yes, Demyx. That woman _is_ a werewolf. Using the Kier Crystals, Dorchadas aggravated those genes; causing them to multiply at an alarming rate until they became the dominant genes. Unfortunately she was unable to recall the details.

"As a result the transformations are more in control of the subject and no longer limited to the full moon. And all the strength, speed and endurance normally reserved for the time during transformations is permanently usable by the werewolf in question. But, as with all things, there are definite consequences. The most obvious of which being that the subject becomes nothing more than a mindless animal. There are other symptoms but the most significant is that the aggravated genes, in their fight to become dominant, start destroying the cells within the body.

"The only reason that Sierra appeared to be pretty much her old self is because Kyndeyrn decided that she had done enough for their cause and gave her something to repress the genes. However they are still, literally devouring her from the inside out."

A resounding slam echoed throughout the room and Lexaeus was back on his feet. "Bastards!" a clenched fist descended upon the controls once again. "I'm going to kill them!" he snarled, the word 'kill' emphasized by another loud pounding of his fist.

Demyx rushed over and restrained Lexaeus' arm. "Stop it! You're gonna bust the ship!" he exclaimed, only to be shoved away roughly by the larger man. Zexion steadied the Nocturne, at the same time restraining the blond from approaching Lexaeus again. "Can't we do anything, Zexion?" he murmured, eyes fixed on Lexaeus as the Silent Hero took deep calming breaths.

"Unfortunately not. The most we could do is delay her passing and that would just mean prolonging her suffering." the Schemer replied.

Lexaeus let out a deep sigh, massaging his face slightly with one hand as he muttered an apology to his companions for his outburst. Eyes still closed he lowered his hand gently onto the controls; accidentally pressing one of the larger buttons. Immediately all three Nobodies were thrown backwards into the wall. Demyx colliding into Zexion while Lexaeus ended up a couple of feet to their right.

"**Warning! Destination unknown! Warp-drive initiated!"**

"Wh-what?!" Demyx cried out at the computer repeating its loud monotonous warning. As soon as the pressure inside the Gummi Ship started increasing, Lexaeus hurriedly grabbed the two younger Nobodies and held them close to his sides. Preventing them from being tossed around like rag dolls during the impending warp.

* * *

Lexaeus was slowly roused from his state of unconsciousness by the dull aching throb in the back of his head combined with the low buzz created by the various voices around him. Gradually the ache grew in intensity but the voices remained slurred and indeterminable. It was impossible to pick out just one of the voices and identify it.

An involuntary groan escaped from the large Nobody's lips as he twisted his head a little to the side in an attempt to take the pressure off the back of his head.

"Hey! I think he's waking up; go get the other two. Tell them he's awake." called out a female voice. Lexaeus only just heard what vaguely sounded like an affirmative followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.

A cold hand was pressed against his forehead while another tested his pulse. "Well there's no fever. And your pulse is normal. Can you open your eyes, for me?" the voice was soft and kind, extremely patient. Slowly, he did as she asked and opened his eyes. "Okay, good. Now how many fingers am I holding up?" she inquired, holding up a random number of fingers in front of his eyes.

"Two."

"Alright. I think it's safe to say that you don't have a concussion either." the woman informed him with a warm smile.

Using his hands Lexaeus pushed himself slowly into a sitting position. "Don't strain yourself, 'kay? You might not have completely recovered." it was more of a friendly suggestion than a professional order and the woman kept her warm, kindly smile on her face as she spoke.

Lexaeus opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the door being thrust open and a familiar blond blur flung his arms around the Nobody. "You had us worried sick, you idiot!" exclaimed the Nocturne, easily resisting his superior's weak attempts to pry him off. Although he was supposed to be scolding Lexaeus, Demyx was unable to stop the relieved laughter from creeping into his face or the grin from spreading across his features.

Zexion chuckled in amusement as his friend stopped trying to push away the Neophyte and allowed him to continue his display of relieved affection. The young man turned to face the medic – who was also watching the scene with some amusement – and gave her a charming smile. "Thank you, miss."

"Oh, it was really no trouble. I couldn't just leave the poor man for nature to run its course." she assured him, her smile turning a little shy as she saw the charming one he was sending her way.

Having finally been released from Demyx's death-grip Lexaeus took a deep breath. "What exactly happened, Nine? H--" whatever else he'd been about to say was stopped by the dark scowl which had replaced the Nocturne's grin with alarming speed.

"Don't. Call me. That." he hissed, "There _isn't_ an Organization anymore, Lexaeus! It's just you, me and Zexion. We all know that those ranks were just a stupid device for Xemnas to keep all the power for himself! Just stop it, as far as we're concerned we're all equal now. So there's no need for ranks anymore." at first his tone was accusing and his fist collided with the nearest wall, but as he continued Demyx's voice softened again.

Again Lexaeus was taken aback by Demyx's outburst. He wasn't used to seeing the blond breaking out of his normal good-natured and rather timid demeanor. Nor was he used to being snapped at or spoken back to by anyone— even people who were higher in rank than himself.

He was vaguely aware of Zexion assuring the woman that there was nothing to worry about in the outburst as he gave an apologetic nod towards Demyx. "Forgive me. Old habits die hard, that's all, Demyx." the younger Nobody's face lit up at the use of his name rather than his number.

"'s alright. Guess I never really liked being addressed as a number." he replied.

The door opened gingerly and a young boy, presumably about ten, poked his face tentatively. "Kayleigh? Uhm Big Davy was looking for ya. Wanted t'know if these lot were still coming with us to the Capital." he informed the woman who walked over to the door.

"Yes. It's the only place they can get their vehicle fixed. Why?"

"'Cause we're leaving first thing in the morning."

"Alright. Go on and tell Big Davy that they're coming and I'll see you in the morning." the boy nodded and raced off. "I'll leave it to you two to fill in your friend about everything. Goodnight." she smiled pleasantly before opening the door back up to leave the room.

"Hey. Thanks again, Kayleigh!" Demyx called after her.

"Don't mention it!" came the good-natured response.

Once Kayleigh was gone, Zexion sat in the free seat beside Demyx and waited patiently for the first question to be asked. As expected it came from Lexaeus. "What exactly happened?"

"First of all tell us what you last remember. It'll save some unneeded explaining." Zexion replied evenly. Lexaeus thought for a moment.

"I remember the warp drive initiating. The rest is a blank."

"Well, the Gummi Ship crashed about half a mile from this town. You were thrown out of it on impact and collided with the ground as well as quite a few rocks. With the force behind it I'm amazed none of your bones were broken." the Schemer told him.

"We managed to save the packs from Hollow Bastion. As well as the crystal casket. Unfortunately our uniforms were beyond saving." added Demyx and Lexaeus finally noticed that none of them were wearing their uniforms and instead some of the clothes that Aerith had packed for them donned their bodies. Zexion's looking a little too big for him so he must have had to borrow some from Demyx. The Nocturne's face then fell. "Unfortunately the Gummi Ship didn't survive the crash. Took a real beating. After Kayleigh treated us she said we should go with them to the Capital 'cause there should be someone there that knows how to fix up Gummi Ships."

"That all happened the day we crashed. You've been unconscious for about a week now."

Lexaeus raised a hand to try and massage some of the pain away from the back of his head, groaning as he let this information sink in. "A whole week…? That long?" Zexion nodded an affirmative.

"And her scent disappeared about four days ago." he added, anticipating the Silent Hero's next inquiry. "You should rest for the remaining time before we depart. Recover some energy. You'll need all you can get, given the circumstances." Lexaeus' face darkened at Zexion's answer to his unasked question and he was about to ask about the following comment but both of the younger Nobodies were on their feet and heading out of the door.

"Tell ya in the morning, Lexaeus. Just rest up 'till then, 'kay?" said Demyx, flashing him a smile accompanied by a small wave as he followed Zexion out of the room.

A loud sigh escaped from Lexaeus' lips as he steadily lowered himself once again onto his back, ignoring his still throbbing head. He raised an arm and rubbed his face, processing all of this new information as well as the events from when he and Demyx had woken up in Hollow Bastion.

It was all so complicated. And now Sierra was gone too. The tiny part of him that was still Aeleus wanted to scream and hurt something. Anything. But he didn't. She had been right. Aeleus was dead, that wasn't who he was anymore. He was Lexaeus. The Organization's number Five. The Silent Hero. And Lexaeus always remained calm. But when he finally caught up with Kyndeyrn then there was going to be hell to pay.

That, at least, he could still do. Because it was her dieing wish. He had known her well enough to tell that much from her eyes. And when someone lets you know their final wish then it becomes your duty – whether whole or Nobody – to fulfill that wish. Besides Lexaeus wasn't about to easily forget what Kyndeyrn had done to his comrades. His friends.

Oh yes, there was going to be hell to pay.

* * *

A/N: It might take a while for me to write chapter ten because it seems to wanna be difficult. Anyways Lexaeus on a mission is bound to be scary, and hopefully Zexion's alright 'cause like I keep saying i've yet to get into the reverse/rebirth part of chain of memories so I'm trying to base personalities off of complaints people make on other stories about them being out of character. So as usual hope you enjoyed it and all reviews are appreciated. 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Oh my god I'm so sorry!! Not only did this chapter really not want to be written, when I finally got it done my internet kept going completely monged and I couldn't post it. And to add insult to injury I had to re-write it because it somehow got deleted . 

* * *

Zexion had woken a few hours earlier before sunrise and only twenty minutes previous had he heard any sounds of life in this place other than Demyx's faint (and thankfully rare) snores. He could hear stressed out arguments and barked orders as well as panicky queries for sons, daughters or various seemingly essential items.

Speaking of panicking… his aforementioned room-mate had done a lot of that just after he'd woken up. Frantically pulling on fresh clothing, shoving scattered items into his backpack, snapping at Zexion for not waking him up and saying that they were going to get left behind and get separated from their much larger comrade. Zexion had actually tuned him out about half-way through this rant having decided that his comment about Demyx worrying far too much and things were going to be fine was sufficient response and it was best to let the young Neophyte blow off his steam.

He knew that even in his current condition Lexaeus wasn't going to let the natives leave without them— that was one of the many attributes of the Silent Hero that had remained constant even through the loss of their hearts— and besides by the sounds of things he and Demyx would arrive long before most of the natives.

Demyx finally stopped rummaging through the, now thoroughly crumpled, bed-sheets and straightened up as he forcefully pulled the white sweatband over his wrist and shouldered the backpack. Zexion had been watching this scene with some amusement. The blond had already been worked up so this fairly unnecessary search had ruffled his feathers quite a bit more. "So I can assume you are ready to depart then?"

Demyx snorted and gave his old superior a slight glare of annoyance. "If you'd woken me up when you got ready then I wouldn't have got so worked up!"

Zexion just shook his head with a slight chuckle "We're in plenty of time. There's no need to rush." he told the other as he went and opened the door. Again there was a snort in response from Demyx as they left the room they had shared for about a week now. It hadn't been so bad. The company had allowed both Nobodies with enough distraction so that they didn't have to deal with the situation at hand.

"Hey, Zexion?"

"What is it?"

"Do you miss them? The rest of the Organization?" Demyx asked as he adjusted the right strap so that the backpack sat more comfortably on his shoulders and back.

"There are… certain aspects that I'll admit I wouldn't mind having restored. I wouldn't say that I 'miss' anything as such. That would imply longing for it. Something which people like you, Lexaeus and I are incapable of." Zexion shrugged indifferently. And this was true enough.

"But you can still 'long' to get your heart back?" there was a slight teasing note in Demyx's otherwise fairly neutral voice. No-one else was around to hear them so they didn't need to conceal their identities.

He was about to fire something witty back in response but the Nocturne continued. "I miss them. I miss the arguments, the missions, the stupid castle, the World That Never was, my Dancers, the others… Hell I even miss Xemnas ranting on and on at us for ages over the littlest things." Zexion noted the nostalgic smile on the younger Nobody's face. "In spite of everything you guys really grew on me. Way I see it is, no-one would say it out loud but everyone thought the same thing. All of us were just dumped into the middle of this empty sea, so we only had each other to keep us afloat. You know? The only thing keeping us from drowning one by one was the fact that we all had each other."

A typical Demyx-analogy. Wherever possible he would relate something back to water. And yet somehow it made perfect sense to Zexion.

"If it wasn't for Oblivion then we could've made it to shore. Not just a few of us but everyone."

Zexion nodded silently. "Yes… it sounds feasible. You know, Demyx, maybe if you'd acted a bit more like this back in the World That Never Was people wouldn't have looked down on you as much."

Demyx just shrugged and grinned. "Maybe. I didn't mind though."

* * *

Lexaeus had just finished pulling on his black t-shirt. It was the baggiest item of clothing for his top-half that he could find so it would irritate his still-injured torso the least. He felt strange in casual attire having gotten so accustomed to wearing his Organization uniform day-in and day-out (not that anyone could tell night from day in The World That Never Was). 

They were leaving today. Demyx, Zexion and himself. For a place the inhabitants of this world seemed to call 'The Capital' where they could apparently get their Gummi Ship repaired. Due to his being unconscious for most of the time he and the others had been there Lexaeus didn't really know what was going on so he was heavily relying on his friends' judgement. This was an unusual situation for him to be in. Not only had he been badly injured but now he was having to rely on other people, even if they were two people he would trust with his life. Normally things were the other way around with people relying on him to get things done or to ensure their safety. He wasn't used to the tables being turned like this.

Lexaeus sighed and ran a hand through his hair just as the door to his room opened. He turned to see both Zexion and Demyx standing there. The latter of the two closing the door behind him. "It's good to see you up and moving around again, Lexaeus." Zexion commented with a nod and a quick smile towards his best friend.

"We'd been starting to think that we would have to head off without you and come back once the ship was fixed." Demyx added, his trademark boyish grin playing across his face as he leaned back against the door.

The Silent Hero's lip twitched as his mouth almost formed an amused smile at the Nocturne's statement. He severely doubted that either would leave without him even if one were to stay behind. No they would, or at least Zexion would have, found a way of postponing the journey until he was ready to join them. Lexaeus' thoughts were cut short by his long-time friend clearing his throat and putting on a serious expression.

"Try and summon your tomahawk." the Schemer told him firmly. Lexaeus raised an eyebrow at this but stretched out his hand and concentrated on a mental image of his trusty weapon. It took longer and far more effort than he remembered but eventually it did appear in his hand. He was about to ask Zexion the reason behind this but Demyx cut him off.

"See if you can open up a dark corridor." coming from the Nocturne this sounded like a friendly suggestion but there was a rare edge to the tone that got the point across that there was no point in arguing and that Lexaeus should just do so and get it over with. So once again Lexaeus stretched out one hand and concentrated his energy, willing it to rip the fabric of this world and form the swirling vortex that was a Nobody's main means of travelling from world to world.

But nothing happened. He tried again, straining his concentration, only to achieve the same result. Nothing.

Frowning in confusion Lexaeus turned his attention to the solid earth beneath the floor of this building, willing it to move and perform his bidding. Once again nothing happened and the effort had forced him to make a strange noise in the back of his throat. Something between a grunt a growl and a groan.

"As I suspected..." Zexion shook his head slightly. "Demyx and I are in the same position. We can summon our weapons but our other powers seem to have been neutralised somehow. Demyx can't even summon a water-clone anymore."

Demyx grinned sheepishly. "It's true. Don't know if it's something to do with this world or if it's maybe just a side-effect from being so long in the Darkness." he added.

"That wouldn't explain Zexion's problem though." Lexaeus frowned harder as he let the tomahawk disintegrate once more into shadows. "So it's probably something to do with the nature of this world." he reasoned. The other two nodded in agreement.

* * *

The three Nobodies met with Kayleigh and the little boy from the previous night in the large open space which surrounded the building they'd been housed in as well as a few others which could only be described as storage sheds. 

Also gathered there was a group of around thirty different people, mainly in their late-teens to mid-twenties. A large portly-looking man with the makings of a beard starting to form was quickly identified as 'Big Davy'. It seemed as though he would be the one leading this venture. He certainly looked formidable and he had a loud commanding voice which was currently being used to issue last-minutes checks on equipment and take a role-call.

It was another fifteen minutes before he seemed satisfied that everyone was present that should be.

"Righ'! We're 'eadin' aff so keep an eye on yer bairns an' yer gaffers!!" he barked as he waved a large hand as a signal for the men driving the carriages to get their horses moving.

* * *

For the most part Lexaeus, Demyx and Zexion were left to walk in peace. However a group of teenage girls would sometimes hang around near them, whispering frantically to each other and giggling incessantly especially when one of the three Nobodies looked over. When this happened one of the girls would wave slightly and try to signal for them to come over to where they were.

When this not-so-subtle hint was ignored they got a little huffy and proceeded to break off into three groups. One group dragged Demyx away with them while another dragged Zexion. Leaving Lexaeus to deal with the last group who crowded around him giving no openings for the large Nobody to break free and rejoin his friends.

Eventually these antics got noticed by 'Big Davy' who marched right over and scolded the girls loudly, telling them to "Leave the puir lads alone 'cause they's mair likely tae bite yer heids aff than go on a date wi' wan o' yous." the girls had immediately retreated back to their brothers (and in some cases boyfriends) looking scared. Big Davy had winked at the Nobodies and went back to the front of the group where he slung an arm over Kayleigh's shoulders.

While the three of them had appreciated the gesture. Big Davy's methods and crudeness had been a little over the top and unnecessary. Now they would have to put up with being branded as cannibals or something like that by the rest of the group.

* * *

A/N: Big Davy and the giggle-troopers belong to me.

Also I would like to clear a couple of things up regarding last chapter. About Lexaeus' and Demyx's emotional outbursts, I know they seemed kinda over-the-top but I have my reasons! See I have this theory regarding Nobodies and the shadows of emotions they '_feel_'. The intensity of the so-called emotion is related to how sudden the memory is. For example when Lexaeus is beating up the Gummi Ship from the inside he really wasn't expecting that kind of information from Zexion, that coupled with his old girlfriend being on death's bed and a rare appearance of Aeleus' personality shining through all added together to create his outburst.

And as for Demyx, he just strikes me as the kind of person who would act all emotional even if he didn't have a heart. That's just who he is. Hence his '_anger_' during last chapter.

About the actual world they are currently on: I don't really know what I was thinking of in the last chapter. I was positive that I'd seen or heard something like 'The Capital' and mountainous landscapes on some film I'd watched which I was also sure was a disney one! Turns out it was my brain playing tricks and being cruel to me. As a result this is now a completely made up world. Which may or may not hold some importance _**IF**_ I decide to sequel this story.

Right I know this may have seemed kind of like a filler chapter. To be honest I'm not sure if it is or not but at least it was posted before christmas so that's a consolation if I don't get another chapter up before then... hopefully I will but I seriously can't make any promises.

And lastly I need help with deciding on a new title for this thing because to be honest I think that the title sucks! So yeah if you have any ideas then please leave a review with your suggestions. I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks, love ya guys.


	11. Chapter 11

Five days since the trek began. Five days of merciless heat during the day and uncomfortable warmth during the nights. Five days of talking and planning. Five days of strain on Lexaeus' still-injured torso.

Barely two hours into the journey on the third day had Lexaeus been cornered by Kayleigh and Big Davy. Despite his best efforts to hide it both of them had noticed the large Nobody's fatigue. As a result he was forced to sit most of that journey on the back of one of the horse-drawn carts. Luckily it was situated roughly in the middle of the group of traveling locals so he wasn't forced away from Demyx and Zexion who were hardly able to keep up with the frontal cart even if they were being chased by ferocious beasts.

A similar thing happened the next day as well except he was only forced to stay there for three or four hours rather than the whole day.

Long since freed from the persistence of flirty teenage girls the three Nobodies had been able to talk together in relative peace and without much distraction. They had spoken softly of the Dorchadas and what their course of action should be once the Gummi Ship was restored to full working condition.

There was no need to return to the previous settlement. Between them the two younger Nobodies had split the load of Kier Crystal into their backpacks. Supposedly it was half and half but Lexaeus had a feeling that Zexion had managed to come off with the lighter load, if only because he knew well the manipulative nature of the Schemer.

Every night they would take the evening meal with Kayleigh, Big Davy and their son who happened to be the boy they had seen the night before departure. Kayleigh had informed them that her husband's name was really David and that they should use that instead of the stupid nickname given to him by the other travelers.

After the meal they generally got left alone again until it was time for the young children to be put to sleep. Somehow during their stay at the settlement Demyx's talent for singing had been discovered and gotten a lot of positive attention. Now the unfortunate blond would be forcefully dragged away from his companions and made to sing the children into their respective dream-lands.

Zexion seemed to find this extremely amusing. Even Lexaeus had to agree it was funny how Demyx tried to protest but was so easily swayed by a kind old lady asking him politely to do this for them and giving that smile elderly people can give that makes you feel guilty if you don't help them out.

"So as soon as possible after the ship's fixed we go find Sora and the others." Demyx confirmed after a fairly long-winded discussion. "But what if we can't get him to help us? Somehow I don't think we'll be high enough on his buddy-list to get anywhere near him without two keyblades ready to cut open our throats." the Nocturne folded his arms over his chest with a slight frown.

"I'm not entirely sure of that myself." Zexion admitted grudgingly.

"I think… they'll possibly give us a chance to at least explain ourselves. From what I know of both Sora and Roxas they'll be able to convince Riku as well. As long as we get our point across about the Dorchadas then they should help us at the very least get rid of the higher-ups." said Lexaeus slowly, looking from one younger Nobody to the other inquiring for further input.

"Sounds reasonable." Zexion said finally.

"Yeah, they probably would. I mean, I knew Roxas better than either of you two did and that definitely sounds like something he'd do. Especially now that he and Sora are one. It's possible that in a way he can still influence Sora's actions." added Demyx. And it was true. Out of the entire Organization Demyx and Axel had been the only ones to get close to the Nobody of the keyblade master.

But at the same time they had no idea how the times had changed Sora. For all they knew he could be completely different from how he used to be.

Light, delicate footsteps approached them slowly. Looking around the three Nobodies spotted Kayleigh smiling kindly at them. "You guys should ge' some res'. David's gonna push us all harder tomorrow to gain a few extra miles. Better gather as much energy as ya can 'kay?" she said in that soft soothing voice of hers as her hand delicately gave each of them a squeeze on the shoulder.

"Just get some sleep." she repeated with another smile before heading back to her husband and son.

Turning his head a little Demyx could see that most of the other travelers were already sleeping or on their way there. Children nestled close between their parents loving embraces. Young couples entwined together in content. And friends lying close together sharing each others' warmth.

Stars twinkling in the sky and a comfortingly cool breeze added to the peaceful serenity of the scene before his eyes.

* * *

Hoofbeats upon loose gravel. Dust clouds rising up in the black distance. Hushed whispering. A series of faint red glows. Hurried movement and muffled grunts.

Hoofbeats speeding off back into the night. More talking, less hushed.

A slightly colder campsite.

* * *

A/N: And here's chapter eleven up on Christmas Eve Yeah it's kinda short but I'm happy with it and it does what it was meant to do.

Suggestions for the new title are still welcome and as always all reviews are appreciated.

Merry Christmas everyone.

xxx Gael


	12. Chapter 12

Lexaeus and Zexion were woken to loud shouts of argument. The rest of the travelers had crowded around David, Kayleigh and their son. A middle aged man with red, graying hair was right up in David's face, yelling at him and even shoving against the man's shoulders.

The larger man's face had gone red and his fists were clenched. "Everyone got the same warnin'! Ye all kent that this were likely to happen at some poin'! So dun go blamin' me fer somethin' what cannae be helped!" David snapped back.

"What's going on?" Lexaeus asked Kayleigh who had managed to escape the crowd along with her son.

"The shadow-walkers came last night." she said sadly, holding her son close to her body because he was sniffling. "When groups of travelers like us settle down to sleep for the night, sometimes, a nearby party of shadow-walkers will come and search the campsite. They use some kind of glowing red stone and walk between the sleeping people. We don't know how the shadow-walkers choose who they take... but by morning there is almost always someone gone. In most cases it's a handful of people that go missing...

"When it first started guards would be set up to chase away the shadow-walkers if they approached. But it turned out they had a way to send the guards into sleep. Anything else we tried also failed. Now after people have been taken by the shadow-walkers we just wait in the same place for three days."

Faintly Lexaeus heard Zexion sniffing the air. "You don't go after them?"

Kayleigh shook her head. "It would take too long to find even traces of their encampments. And... they always return after three days. Leaving us with some of the people they took, the ones who decided they didn't want to stay with the shadow-walkers. And they leave messages from the ones who did stay..."

"My aunty Beth stayed wif 'em... told us not to worry cos they was treatin' her great an' she were happy... said she'd found someone special there and wasn't gonna leave 'em.." the little boy sniffled again slightly, one hand gripping his mother's dress. "Now they've took my cousin Andrew. What if he don't come back neither?"

Zexion nudged Lexaeus' shoulder with his own to get the larger Nobody's attention. "I can't find Demyx anywhere on the site." he said.

Kayleigh nodded. "He was the first one we noticed was gone... since normally he's the last to wake that got everybody checking to see who else was gone."

* * *

A small groan escaped the Nocturne's lips and he opened his heavy eyelids. The first thing he noticed was the distinct absence of his two fellow Nobodies. Second was the fact that voices were talking rapidly nearby in a foreign language he had no hope of understanding. Demyx attempted to sit up, trying to locate the source of the voices. 

He noticed he had been laid down on a few sets of blankets, with another blanket settled on top of him. It took a while for Demyx to notivce the people gathered by some large, freakishly reptillian, horse-like creatures. They were all built in pretty much the same way: medium height, fairly muscular (at the very least), tanned skin and blood red hair. One of them turned and Demyx saw eyes that perfectly rivalled the color of that blood red hair. She called to one of the males and jerked her head in Demyx's direction then saying something to him in that strange language.

The man nodded, his shaggy mane of hair covering his eyes briefly, and headed over to where Demyx sat. "Good morning." he stated in English, the thick accent underlying the words made it even clearer he was not a natural communicator in this language.

"Er.. hi." Demyx responded meekly.

"I... am Taj." the man looked at Demyx expectantly after introducing himself.

"D-demyx." Where was he? Who were these people? Where were Zexion and Lexaeus?

_"Schla-ko."_ Taj inclined his head slightly "You are... hungry?" vaguely Demyx nodded. The man held out a hand to him, grabbing Demyx's wrist and pulling him to his feet "My _nika_ has made some. You will eat with us." and the Nocturne was dragged behind this freakishly strong man into a tent. Inside were two others. A female who had her blood red hair tied into shoulder-length braids. She looked to be the oldest. Then there was a boy, no older than seventeen or eighteen with his hair in a short mohawk that led into a shoulder-length ponytail, grinning widely at them.

_"Niko malishka." _the female grunted, gesturing to the two spare food-filled bowls. She picked one up and handed it to Demyx while Taj was left to pick up his own. Tentatively Demyx picked at the foreign meat in his bowl, bringing a piece to his mouth and nibbling at it. It was surprisingly soft, easy to bite through, slightly salty without overwhelming the taste of the actual meat. And then were the ripe, juicy purple berries. Giving a delicate, sweet contrast to the sharp saltiness.

Soon Demyx was eating with as much enthusiasm as the other two males. Not caring that berry juice was running down his chin. He heard the younger of the two strangers laughing good-naturedly and saying something to the woman.

When Taj was finished with his own breakfast he settled a hand on Demyx's upper arm to stop him eating for a moment. "My _nika_, Kit. And my _niko_, Joc. My... sister ... and brother." Taj's forehead wrinkled in thought before he managed to get out the last sentence of his introduction. Indicating each of the others in turn.

_"Schla-ko." _Kit greeted him. Or Demyx supposed it was a greeting anyway. Kit then grunted something in their native language to Taj who nodded in response before barking something to the youngest brother. Joc quickly scrambled to his feet and and hurried out of the tent.

"Hey, um, I appreciate the food and all but what exactly am I doing here? And where _is_ here?"

"This our home, for now." said Kit, "You our guest here for next three days."

"Then you make decision: stay with us or go back to friends." Taj added.

* * *

A/N: Okay that's chapter twelve up. I quite liked this one if only because it introduces a few characters that will turn up in the sequel (because I've decided I will write one) and one that is connected to an already introduced character. One problem though is I'm not that keen on the beginning bit with Lexaeus, Zexion and the travelers, but hey that might just be me being paranoid and self-criticizing. I've also thought up a few choices for what Im going to change the title to: 

**Silent Nocturne of Heroes**

**Heroes' Nocturne**

**Heroes' Melody**

**Heroes' Silent Nocturne**

**Silent Heroic Melody**

**Melody of Heroes**

**Silent Heroes' Nocturne**

Please leave a review saying which one you would like to be the title. I'll change it to the most popular one after a week or so.


	13. Chapter 13

"So what you're telling us is that Demyx, our Demyx, is in the possession of these 'Shadow-walkers'. That it will be essentially impossible for him to come back before three days are over. Even then he may choose to stay with the people who have kidnapped him. And if this is the case then we must give up any hope of ever even glimpsing either him or that annoying sitar of his ever again." Zexion summarized the information he and Lexaeus had just received regarding their blond musical Neophyte companion with a frown.

Big Davy nodded. "Aye... 'fraid so wee pal." and he did look genuinely apologetic. Although neither of the Nobodies really needed to see his expression to know this. He had after all practically engulfed Zexion with his wide well-plumped form while offering his deepest sympathy and apologies. All-be-it in a far from dignified fashion.

"This is what happened to your sister and your nephew?" Lexaeus questioned. A teary-eyed Kayleigh nodded. "The Shadow-walkers will return Demyx unharmed when he decides, correct?"

"That's what happens, aye." the young offspring of the two 'leaders' of this group piped up. "But how do ye know that's what he'll decide?" he asked, tilting his head in an adorable inquisitive manner.

"He does have a point, Lexaeus. We have no way of knowing the result three days of living with those people will have on Demyx." Zexion added, frowning a little deeper.

For a while the Silent Hero didn't answer. Then he opened his mouth and said "Because Demyx would not just abandon us like that. If there is any chance that he'll be able to return. No matter what it is. He will take it. That's how I know." his tone was so confident and decisive that Big Davy had to break out into a grin.

"So the lad's got his head an' his heart in the right place, eh? Puts his pals first. Ah can see ye think highly of him. Let's hope he dun let ye down."

* * *

"Hey, Taj?" the man gave a grunt to show that he was listening. "You... still haven't told me why I'm here." Demyx sat down on the grass next to one of the reptillian horses from before. He'd discovered they were quite affectionate. These people must take very good care of them. 

Taj looked at him. "Later... will explain rest when you meet last..." his brow creased in thought for a moment. "member of family first. Will make... telling you easier." he said apologetically.

"When do I meet 'em then?" the Nocturne frowned. Sure Taj and his family were nice enough to Demyx. But the lack of answers he was getting was frustrating.

"At night-meal. We introduce you. Then... we talk. Am sorry, friend, is my _nika's_ instruction. She is elder so we do as she say."

Again no answers. Demyx frowned slightly more but didn't push it. He had yet to see anyone here get angry. But judging by their well-trained physiques he was pretty sure that he really didn't want to.

Seeming to sense his frustration Taj held out his hand and pulled Demyx to his feet while coaxing the creature on the ground up as well with a series of clicks of his tongue and gentle tugs on the reigns.

"Come. I'll get Zil. We will ride together."

"Ride?? Y-ya mean on those things?"

Taj nodded. "You ride on Raz. She is gentle to new riders. Won't let you fall." he said reassuringly handing the reigns over to Demyx. "Just walk. Raz follows." and before Demyx could protest Taj was away towards one of the larger 'horses' which he mounted easily in one leap before whistling at a girl and signalling for her to go to Demyx.

She probably wasn't even fourteen yet. But Demyx could easily see the deadly muscles lining her otherwise slender willowy build. The girl smiled warmly at him then, without warning, grabbed him by the knees and hoisted him up onto Raz's back with incredible ease. Giggling a little at Demyx's yelp of surprise.

"Hold onto reigns. Don't need saddle, reigns all you need." Taj tugged a little on his own reigns to demonstrate. "Copy."

Soon Demyx was able to urge his mount into a fast trot, guiding the direction with the reigns and his shoulders. He was still getting used to having to rise from Raz's back and go back down to meet it at the right times. But he was getting there. By now a group of people had gathered around them. Watching and even calling out to one of them. Mostly to Taj. Demyx recognised some of the people gathered, having seen them in the camps before being brought here. He even recognized one of the girls who'd been fauning over him and his two fellow Nobodies. She was being held by a man, one of Taj's people, who had an arm slung over her shoulder and was nuzzling her hair.

Apparently some of these people were also very bold to be able to act in such a way towards someone they can't have known even a full day yet.

Out the corner of his eye Demyx noticed Taj slow down from a canter into a trot beside him. "You learn quick. Natural rider." he grinned at the Neophyte, clapping him on the shoulder. "Soon you be able to keep up with Dil." he indicated a young boy of about eleven. "He young but he will be one of best. Jyakin trust him like they don't trust the rest of us. Raz... she trust you almost like she trust Dil. Can see it in way she let you... hold onto mane. Most time Jyakin not let manes be touched ... because is very sensitive there." he explained.

Demyx glanced at his hands. They were indeed holding onto the short mane on Raz's neck. It felt more like fur than hair.

"Taj!! _Giko bashilan morot_!" Kit called forcibly, arms folded across her chest. "_Hcan niko mala _Demyx." he nodded towards her and motioned for Demyx to follow him.

* * *

There was a heavy silence in the camp as everyone made themselves eat their lunch. Some were glaring at their food as they pushed it around their bowls before forcing it down their throats. Others sat limply in a kind of daze, needing external help to even pick up a fork or a bowl. While some of the younger locals huddled together should they suddenly break down and need the comfort of their peers most distanced themselves from everyone else staring out longingly into the distance. Pleading silently to whatever deity they worshipped for their loved ones to come back to them. 

Kevin was sniffling into his mother's shoulder. "Cousin Andy's not gonna come back I know it!! He never were happy wif us!! Why would he wanna come back?!" he wailed as quietly as he could while Kayleigh held him close, murmuring soothingly to him.

David scowled and pulled the boy from his mother's embrace. "Ach wheesht yersel and eat ya stovies..." he muttered, putting Kevin's bowl into his hands. "Besides we don't ken that fer sure." he added with a soft grunt, rubbing his son's hair with a large hand as a comfort offering.

* * *

Joc, Taj and Demyx were gathered in the family's tent. Joc had been trying to communicate with Demyx for the last ten minutes using a series of hand gestures and noises. Taj was over at the sleeping bags so he couldn't do any translating. 

"Sorry, what? I don't know what you're trying to say." Demyx looked in confusion as the gestures were getting more and more over the top. Joc frowned at this and leaned back into a normal sitting position tilting his head a little as he closed his eyes in thought. Lips set in a thin line. It had quickly become apparent that Joc was not only the youngest but he was also the only one in the family who couldn't communicate in a language that Demyx

Joc's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Kit and a fair-skinned delicate-looking blonde woman into the tent. This prompted four sets of voices to give the greeting: "_Schla-ko_." before sitting down around the fire. The new woman grinned warmly at Demyx as she sat down between him and Kit.

"I'm Elizabeth." she said, holding out a hand for him to shake. "You'll be Demyx, then? Kit's brothers' room-mate for the next few days." she added as Demyx shook her hand once.

"Er... yeah. That's right. Nice to meet ya, Elizabeth."

"Psh, just call me Beth. Elizabeth is way too formal." she chuckled. It was then that Taj set down a pot and dished out bowls of some kind of stew.

"_Khan-dral_." he said each time he handed a bowl to one of them. As he took a bite of the meat he found in the stew Demyx recognized the same soft texture and slight saltyness from the meat he'd received that morning with his breakfast. It seemed that this meat, whatever animal it had come from, could be used for lots of purposes. Not that he was complaining. In fact Demyx found himself becoming quite partial to whatever it was.

Taj lowered himself down by Demyx's other side. "You have... met my other _nika_, yes?" he asked, looking at the blond musician.

"Huh? Ya mean Beth?" Taj nodded.

"Well I ain't really related to them. I'm more like a sister-in-law."

"So now... we tell why you are here." Kit spoke up, swallowing a soft chunk of meat. Demyx looked around him at Taj, Kit, Joc and Elizabeth. They seemed serious. Taj felt around in his pocket then pulled out a gold chain. Demyx's eyes widened slightly. Hanging from the chain was a completely colorless Kier Crystal.

* * *

A/N: And yes I'll leave you guys with a cliff-hanger. Why? Because I just think that was a good place to leave off. And for anyone who didn't notice it was Heroes' Melody that won the most votes for the new title.

Stovies is one of my favorite foods. It's basically mashed tatties (potatoes) mixed in with mince .

Traslations

_Khan-dral: _Dig in

_Giko bashilan morot:_ Stop showing off

_Hcan niko mala: _Get our brother

Okay hope you guys liked this chapter. I promise I'll try not to make you wait too long for the next one cos I know how annoying cliff-hangers can be for some people and that you **_will find out why on Earth the shadow-walkers took Demyx in the first place._** And yes the Beth in the tent is Kayleigh's sister.

Also I would just like to mention that the Jyakin (lizard-horse creatures) have already grown on me and like their masters the shadow-walkers have now forced their own special place to be formed in my heart. Yes that's how much I've come to like the damn things in the space of two chapters haha.

Anyway as always all of your reviews are appreaciated no matter how short or critical they may be. Love all of you guys, see ya next chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

"Where did you get that

"Where did you get that?!" Demyx blurted out, now on edge. If Kier crystals were involved it couldn't be anything good.

"We all have one, given at birth by tribe elder." Kit told him, taking out her own crystal, elbowing the youngest sibling so that he, too, pulled out a Kier Crystal on a gold chain. These crystals were different from any others Demyx had seen before. Instead of solid colours fading into each other they were completely clear with orange and red gaseous substances swirling around inside, dancing with each other in a way that they almost looked like tongues of flame eternally trapped in crystal encasement.

"With these we can find our _Garun-akyah_." Taj added, a genuine smile gracing his features.

"Your what?"

"_Garun-akyah_. It means one bonded by crystal." Beth explained casually. "It's basically someone who will have a big role to play in their lives. For some their _Garun-akyah_ is a rival to push them into striving to achieve greatness. For others someone to talk to or a best friend to encourage them. Sometimes the crystals even lead them to their life-partner." Beth's grin was now replaced with a wistful smile and Demyx noticed the corners of Kit's mouth curling for the briefest moments before fading again.

"_Niko Garun-akyah shor kalim. Talya moi_." Joc shook his head as he spoke, his expressive face saddening away from its usual carefree grin. Completely confused Demyx looked round at the others for a translation.

"He said: Brother's _Garun-akyah_ left. Didn't love him." Beth once again explained, not once needing to stop and think about what she was saying. Then she chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I'm good at languages and translating them if nothing else." She added with a grin, as if seeing the question on Demyx's face.

"_Liyo Talyan! Shrivara khandros iy._" Kit snapped suddenly, long-nailed fingers gripping at Beth's forearm as she looked straight at the blonde woman firmly.

Beth just kept smiling. "Yeah, I know. I know. _Eril Talyan_." Demyx opened his mouth to ask what all this was about only to be cut off by a finger being pressed against his lips by Taj who shook his head, getting his meaning across: Just wait a minute, soon you can ask your questions.

"Sorry about that, man." Beth grinned at him. "Back to what I was saying before. This is a big world, no-one here would find their _Garun-akyah _if they stayed confined to the tribes and territories. So whenever night falls groups of up to fifteen ride out in search of camp sites, that's where the crystals come in. They glow red when in contact with the skin of its holder's _Garun-akyah._ So if the crystal glows red those people are taken back to the village for a period of three days. At the end of that they are given the choice: stay with their _Garun-akyah_ or return to their lives."

"You can't just go kidnapping people while they sleep!" Demyx exclaimed.

Kit's blood coloured eyes bore into him. "How else could we find them? We are not... trusted by the others even before. This is only way." the Nocturne frowned at this. It just didn't make sense to him. They really believed that these Kier Crystals could do these things... but it just wasn't possible. They would have to have minds of their own to be able to do that. But they were just crystals, inanimate objects.

"So... that's why I'm here? Because one of your crystals glowed?" Taj and Kit both nodded. "Whose?" Taj said something to the other three before taking the crystal from his younger brother's hands and holding it gently against the exposed skin of Demyx's left forearm. "His?" Joc was looking at the ground sheepishly, snatching his crystal back and slipping the chain over his head. "But I can't stay here! I need to get back to the others."

"And you will." Beth said soothingly, placing an arm on his shoulder. "Just a couple of days and you, along with anyone else who makes the same decision, will be returned."

"We can't wait that long though!" Demyx shrugged her off and made to get to his feet. "Me and my friends... we've got a mission and it can't wait! We have to leave as soon as possible!" he insisted as Taj eased him back down into a sitting position, not looking at Joc's expression of confusion while he tried to get answers out of his sister. "I need to get back, tonight!" Demyx urged. If only his powers worked here... he could make a portal and get away. But in this state he couldn't fight back any of them even with the help of his sitar.

Taj looked at him intently, crimson eyes never once blinking. "_Juyari rowgal_ Demyx _qev_. _Havri goazn_. _Eril niko_." he stated, looking at Joc in particular who now looked hurt. "_Edra kosh-ba_." the elder brother got to his feet, pulling Demyx with him. "Come... we leave as soon as Jyakin ready." and without another word he led Demyx out of the tent, over to where the reptillian steeds were kept.

"I am sorry, friend... I take you back tonight... it is for best." Taj muttered as he set about getting the reigns onto the two Jyakin they had been riding earlier that day.

"Y-you are?" Taj nodded stiffly, hauling Demyx up onto Raz's back once again before mounting the stallion next to her.

"Just follow, we get there before morning. No need for farewell... will only make things harder on _niko._" and with that the two Jyaking trotted out of their enclosure and past the borders of the village.

For the most part neither rider said a word, Demyx because he was vaguely confused and sensed some kind of tension from his temporary companion. Taj made no attempt to speak at all until two hours later when they slowed down to a walk. "You are... not whole."

The Nocturne looked up in confusion and slight panic. "What?"

"Your eyes are dead. When you smile... when you frown... your eyes do nothing." Demyx bit his lip slightly, he didn't think any of them had noticed. "That mission you spoke of... it is to do with that?" Taj's blood coloured eyes peered over at him, seeming to glow in the moonlight.

"Yeah... kinda."

"Then that is more important. Your friends are the same?" Demyx nodded, he couldn't believe he was having this convesation with Taj. "That is why I help you... if you stay only misery and pain. Now you have chance to become whole... it is for the best. More important than one boy's crystal." in the dark Demyx heard Taj sigh. "Already you are family to us. If you need come to me, my _nikas _or my _niko._ We will help."

"Thanks, Taj." Demyx smiled over at the Shadow-walker.

After another hour or so Taj stopped dead and pointed at a warm orange glow not too far away. "There is your camp, I go no further with you." understanding why, Demyx cautiously lowered himself to the ground. Taj taking Raz's reigns as he did so.

"Taj, before you go can I ask you something?" he saw the man nod slowly. "Your... _Garun-akyah_. Who was she?"

"Daughter of great Barbarian chief. I knew we could not be... I am twice her age. She has left this world, I cannot see her again. That is how it must be." and with that Taj dug his heels into Zil's sides causing him and Raz to set off in a gallop, back for their village.

Quickly turning around to face the inviting glow of the campfire Demyx started to sprint towards it. As he drew closer he started to hear familiar voices and even movement from the campsite. A grin spread across his face as he kept going. Soon he would be back with his fellow Nobodies. And soon they would all be off this planet and well on their way to Destiny Islands.

Lexaeus looked up at Zexion, raising a questioning eyebrow at the smirk pulling at the Schemer's lips. "Zexion?"

"It appears your faith in our little Nocturne were not misplaced, Lexaeus." Zexion chuckled getting to his feet, looking down at his large companion who was currently propped up on one elbow having just woken up. "Demyx is back... a full two days early no less. And here I was thinking we were going to get some peace for a few days until he was brought back by those Shadow-walkers." he didn't need to say anymore. Lexaeus was already pushing himself off the ground and to his feet. With surprising speed considering his sheer bulk and the fact that his torso still wasn't completely healed from when the Gummi Ship crashed.

That's one part of Aeleus that lived on even in his Nobody. Always worrying over his friends and companions even when he lacked the emotional capacity to care about others. Zexion chuckled. That's simply who he was. Heart or no, some tiny shred of Aeleus still remained within Lexaeus. Just like a tiny shred of Ienzo was still in Zexion.

Apparently some of the other travelers had heard the Schemer because they were up and rousing any that may still be asleep. Obviously excited that their loved ones would be back so much sooner than they could have hoped for. Had Zexion a heart he would have felt sorry for them. But he was good at keeping up appearances. They didn't know about his acute sense of smell. He had only caught four scents on the wind. One distinctively Demyx, reminding him of the sea. Two of the others nothing more than animals. And the last scent was now gone along with them.

Only one of those who had been taken was being returned this night.

A/N: Hey, I know I promised this wouldn't take too long, but I've been having computer troubles and I didn't trust the computers enough to make any new documents either on the desktop or on the internet. But at least I got it out right?

And the language the Shadow-walkers use isn't really a real one. It's mostly random words from off the top of my head that sounded pretty cool.

Okay not really too much to say about this chapter except that I'm relatively pleased with it and that the plot will be getting back into motion next chapter, these last few felt just a bit too slow for me so I'm gonna try and get it back into gear for next time. Anyway hope you like it and as always any reviews are greatly appreciated.

**Translations**

_Juyari rowgal qev:_ I'm taking him back

_Eril:_ Sorry

_Talyan:_ Love

_Liyo: _Quiet

_Shrivara khandros iy:_ That's not true

_Edra kosh-ba:_ He does not belong


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Well here ya go, hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Over an hour and a half since Demyx had returned and still he was being crowded by frantic parents inquiring over their babies; frustrated partners concerned for the well-being of their significant others; and blubbering siblings wanting to know what had become of their brothers and sisters.

When he couldn't answer their questions a tall, scarred man with a shaven head growled menacingly before grabbing the Nocturne by the front of his shirt and suddenly slammed him against the nearest cart. Ignoring Demyx's yelp of pain he leaned forward in an intimidating manner. "Don't lie to me! You were there with my baby sister!! Remember her?" he hissed. "Skinny as a stick, dark hair. Same eyes as me. You were talking to her not two God damn days ago!" he slammed Demyx again, taking no heed of the numerous orders to let the blond go or of the two large men approaching him. "So you're gonna tell me what you saw! Before I snap your scrawny neck in two!"

He growled again when Lexaeus' large hand took hold of his arm to try and pry him off of the blond Nobody's throat. "Don't touch me!" at the second word he actually tightened his grip enough to emphasize his point by making Demyx splutter and cough for air.

"Byrne!" someone shouted from a little ways back so Demyx didn't see who it was.

"I really don't know!" he blurted out, mentally cursing this world's effect on his powers once again.

"Why'd they take _you_ back and nobody else?! Answer me, dammit!!" Byrne pulled his fist back ready to punch Demyx only for it to be caught and twisted painfully behind his back by the largest of the three Nobodies.

"Byrne let him go already! He obviously dun know anythin'!" David barked forcefully. Seeing the defiant glare on the young man's face and the tensing of his muscles he tried again. "Now! For your sister's sake let 'im go! What would she do if she found out you were the one what hurt the kid?"

That did it. Byrne's hand released the Nocturne and he pulled himself free of Lexaeus' grip, storming away without saying another word to anyone.

David sighed. "Go 'n' get some rest, beauy. Ye'll be tired... we'll talk in the morn." he said to Demyx before shooing everyone else away. Leaving the Nobodies to return to their own little sleeping area within the camp but a little ways off away from most of the other travelers. Which meant that they could talk freely without fear of being overheard as long as they kept their voices reasonably quiet.

"Care to give us an account of what happened?" Zexion inquired, laying in his spot between the other two. They used this formation so that they could still see each other without having to crane their necks to see over Lexaeus' bulk. The Neophyte nodded.

"Yeah. They actually treated me really well. This one family fed me and let me use their tent while I was there with them. There was this weird meat Kit -that's the oldest sibling- used for just about every meal. Got no idea what it was but I miss it already." the Nocturne frowned, obviously regretting not taking any with him. It was soft and juicy with a kind of salty aftertaste. It was especially good with berries. I'm tellin' ya she used it with _everything_..." he was cut off by Lexaeus clearing his throat noticably, letting the youngest of them know that he had started rambling. "Oh, right. Heh heh sorry about that."

"Hm, yes. But what happened? Why is it that you're back before the three days are up?" the large man asked, making sure to keep his voice down.

Demyx frowned slightly. "They have their own Kier Crystals. Every single one of them carries one on a gold chain." he saw the attention of his two companions become more alert, any tiredness disappearing almost instantly. "I didn't find out where they got 'em. But apparently the elders of each tribe just give them out as soon as someone's born." the Nocturne started rubbing the back of his neck and sighing, almost as if he had been working at some kind of project and the answer to a particular question just kept evading him. "And the crystals aren't really like the ones we've seen before. The ones we've got have solid colour... but these ones are clear and the colours are like some kind of gas swirling around inside." Demyx explained what he could remember. He hadn't actually got a good enough look at any of the crystals. It must have been some unwritten code that they didn't touch each others' crystals or let anyone else touch them either.

"Fascinating... could you tell if they knew anything about Dorchadas?" Zexion asked him. The blond shook his head.

"No way. They don't even know what the crystals really are. Seem to think they're a device sent to them by some God to find the person who will have an impact on their destiny. And if they were in league with Dorchadas then they would've known about us, right?" he paused for a moment to see the other two nodding in agreement with that statement. "Well just before Taj took me back here he asked me if the reason I needed to get back so bad was because of the fact that I was somehow incomplete. He didn't know that I'm a Nobody. None of them did."

"So it's safe to say that we probably won't run into any of the Dorchadas on this world then." Lexaeus murmured. "Demyx. Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything that could prove to be useful?" the Neophyte shook his head, there wasn't anything. "I see. The go ahead and get some sleep. There's not much else we can do until morning."

* * *

Lexaeus was the first one up the next morning. He was starting to get used to sleeping on the rough earth by now but it still left much of his body and muscles aching the next day. So he got up to stretch his legs and wake up the rest of his limbs. Glad to get some quiet time to himself for a change. He did like the company of both Zexion and Demyx, that was a given. It was a welcome distraction from the sheer weight of their current task. However it was just nice to get some time to oneself in order to think without interruption. Perhaps even concoct a plan of action with less holes in it.

"Yer up early. I would've thought you'd still be sound asleep like everyone else." turning his head slightly the Silent Hero saw Kayleigh sitting on a large rock not too far from where her husband and son still slept.

"I could say the same to you." he replied, heading over to join her as was common courtesy. She laughed slightly.

"Aye that you could." Kayleigh said as he sat next to her. "I spoke with David, last night. Told him I thought it would be easier for everyone, including you three, if someone were to go on ahead with you to the Capital while the others wait for those who are going to return." the dark blue gaze of the Nobody shifted from the ground to her face. "He agreed with me... I think the episode with Byrne had already convinced him of the same thing." that sounded reasonable. It had been the first time Lexaeus had seen any of the travelers lose their temper and get so violent. Presumably they would be more accustomed to it. But judging from the reactions he had noted from around the campsite it was still an extremely uncommon occurance. "Don' hold it against him... Byrne's a good man. But his sister's the only family he's got left. I was there with him when his parents died and he swore he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He took out a knife and slashed open his palm just to prove how serious he was... wouldn't let me wrap it up until after the funeral. The cut was infected for a long time afterwards."

"I see... " Kayleigh nodded. "You were saying about myself and the others going on ahead?"

"Aye. Your vehicle is all in the one cart with nothing else in it. David will stay behind with the others. They all look up t' him y'see? So long as he's here everyone'll stay pretty calm. The Capital's only a day away so we should reach it before sunset and tomorrow I'll take you to see Markas. He'll be able to fix up your ship. We'll have two of the dogs with us as well. That way we'll know if there's any danger on the way."

"So when do we leave?"

"As soon as you've all had breakfast."

* * *

After the other two Nobodies woke up, Lexaeus explained the current situation to them. Zexion agreed with the plan. Also reasoning that the sooner the ship was fixed the sooner they could go ahead with their plan of action and reach Destiny Islands within the next few days. The longer they spent on this world the more they were at risk of Dorchadas finding out about their plan to destroy them.

Demyx just simply agreed. He was obviously too tired for his brain to function or for him to communicate in anything more than a series of annoyed-sounding grunts.

Kayleigh had prepared a quick breakfast which they all ate gratefully before gathering up their things ready to leave once the petite woman finished her teary-eyed and extremely emotional goodbye to her son. Evidently this would be the first time they'd been apart since he was born. Afterwards the farewell between her and her husband was a quick yet tight and loving embrace. Neither needing to say anything for the other to understand what was going through their minds.

The journey was fairly uneventful. The female dog seemed to be in heat so Lexaeus was the one who had to hold back the male from jumping her every two seconds. The incessant whining was enough to make their ears start to ache. Conversation came in brief spells with long spans of time in between them. For the sake of everyone - including the dogs - they stopped every three hours or so to rest and allow the canines a chance to eat and drink. They did not have the same privelage of being able to refresh themselves as they walked like their masters did.

Along the way the didn't encounter any hostile creatures or locals. The closest they got to such things was the occasional lizard scurrying across their path, seeking prey or shelter from the unforgiving sun.

"How much longer do you think until we get there?" Zexion inquired as they began heading off from their latest rest-spot.

"Just two hours or so, depending on what kind of pace we keep until we get there. " she replied with a smile. Kayleigh was just as eager to arrive at the Capital as her three travelling companions although the reasons were vastly different.

"Thank God! My feet are really killing me!" Demyx exclaimed rather dramatically. Making Kayleigh laugh and his two fellow Nobodies chuckle in amusement.

Sure enough just under two hours later the four of them were being escorted through the gates by two heavily armoured guards. They seemed friendly enough if a little irritable. Lexaeus couldn't blame them. Having to wear that much heavy armour in such heat must have been murder. One of the guards went with them to an inn near the centre of the city. The cart with the Gummi Ship was left in the barn with the horses and the dogs. While Kayleigh went to pay for the rooms.

"Think this guy can really fix up the ship?" Demyx asked Zexion in a low voice.

The schemer just shrugged. "I can't say for sure. We can only hope so. That ship is our only way off of this world unless we can find a way to get our powers working again." he said, matter-of-factly. Lexaeus nodded in agreement.

"There's no use thinking about it until tomorrow. So until then we should just take advantage of the fact that we have a chance of getting a decent night's sleep." the largest of them added just as Kayleigh approached and handed them a key.

"Our rooms are across from each other on the second floor. I'm sorry but you'll have to share. There were only these two rooms free until tomorrow."

* * *

The next day Kayleigh left the inn after breakfast, telling Lexaeus and the others that she would soon come back with Markas so he could take a look at the Gummi Ship. So the three Nobodies were currently waiting by the cart and making sure that the two dogs didn't cause too much havoc and get them all chucked out.

"So if this guy can't fix it or find someone that can... how do we get our powers back?"

"I wish I could say, Demyx. But unfortunately it's as much a mystery to myself and Lexaeus as it is to you." the Silent Hero nodded in confirmation of what his long-time friend had just said.

"Let's just hope that we don't have to cross that bridge at all." the other two nodded their agreement. And conversation ceased until Kayleigh returned with a short, stocky man with a long red beard and similarly long red hair. The combination resulting in most of his face being hidden apart from his unusually pale grey eyes.

"Yous lots' contrapshun's in this 'ere cart, aye?" his voice was low and gravelly. The man sounded as though he were a heavy smoker as well. Lexaeus nodded in respons, earning him a grunt of - supposedly - appreciation as he went over to the cart, placing a pair of goggle-like glasses over his eyes in order to inspect one of the Gummi pieces that he picked out from the cart. "Hrmph. Aye ah can fix up yer ship for yous." he nodded and took off the goggles in order to tie his hair and beard back using small bands. "Jes' give us a coupla hours an' she'll be in be'er shape'n she's ever been afore! Now aff wi' ye!" he snapped waving them away from his work area so that he could get to work.

Demyx laughed as he followed Kayleigh, zexion and Lexaeus along the streets. "He's a bit eccentric isn't he?"

"Who, Markas?" Kayleigh smiled. "Aye, that he is. But ya won't find a better mechanic anywhere on this world. Nor a faster one. He says he'll be done for lunch time but it'll probably be before that."

"So, I suppose we just take in the sights until that dwarf finishes with our ship?" Zexion inquired casually, head tilting ever so slightly as he spoke. Kayleigh laughed heartily at his comment.

"You probably shouldn't call him that wthin earshot if ya wanna keep yer kneecaps intact. He's just vertically challenged."

* * *

After having something to eat for their lunch in the city centre they all headed back to the inn. Sure enough, waiting for them was a very triumphant-looking Markas standing in front of the Gummi Ship. Goggles raised so they sat on his forehead and a hammer in one hand. "She's all yours, lads! Free a charge, 'cause I owe 'er man a favor. Now get yer asses outta my sight afore I kick 'em onto that ship masel'!" he growled although from the expression on his face they got the impression that it was supposed to sound fairly pleasent. In fact to the vertically challenged man it probably did.

"Thank you." Lexaeus offered courteously as he made his way towards the ship first, soon followed by the other two who also offered their thanks. Markas just grunted and shrugged them all off.

"Jes' make sure ya dun' break 'er again or I'll come after yer kneecaps!" he called after them. Kayleigh laughed and waved goodbye.

"I hope ya find what you're looking for."

* * *

A/N: Here you go, chapter fifteen. And once again Demyx gets man-handled by someone. Anyway thanks for reading. And they're finally on thier way to Destiny Islands anyway hope you liked it. And as always reviews of any kind are welcome!

If anyone's having trouble picturing Markas just think of Gimli from Lord of the Rings, that's pretty much what I think he looks like :D

P.S: I decided about last chapter or the one before that I'd start replying to everyone's reviews. However I've not really been able to so far because for some reason the computer won't let me and I can't get onto this site at school because of the filters they have for the internet. But as soon as I can I will reply to all of you!


	16. Chapter 16

Markas had indeed done a fantastic job on the ship. It handled almost like it was reading Lexaeus' mind. It was twice as fast as it had been before. And the engines no longer made that irritating sound which made them worry that the ship was going to suddenly shut down due to the engine failing. the ride was smooth and uneventful. Demyx and Zexion took it in turns to sleep and to keep Lexaeus company. Every so often Zexion would force his old friend away from the controls in order to get some rest himself. Having to reassure him that should anything start going wrong he would wake the large Nobody immediately. Yes, despite Markas' exquisite job on the Gummi Ship, Destiny Islands was turning out to be a lot further away than any of them had anticipated back on the previous world.

The exact amount of time they'd spent so far was unknown. And it didn't really matter now as Zexion went to rouse his companions fromt heir sleep. They were closing in on their destination and it was important that they were all awake for their arrival.

Once up Lexaeus took his place in the pilot's seat and the other two made sure they were secure enough in their seats that they wouldn't be thrown out during the landing procedure. The ship slowed down and its nose tipped downwards before the three Nobodies began their descent to the islands below. The other two trusting Lexaeus' precision in order to not find themselves floating in the middle of the ocean in a completely wrecked Gummi Ship. Although Demyx wouldn't mind too much Zexion most certainly would.

The noise emitted from the engine increased slightly in volume during the descent. As expected Lexaeus managed to land the ship on a patch of sand far enough from the sea that it would not get caught by any unexpected occurances in the tide. Cautiously they exited the vessel, Lexaeus in front considering he had the greatest physical strength out of all of them so if they should run into any hostility he could hold off until the other two were able to contribute to the fighting.

The beach was quiet and peaceful at first. And for a while they wondered if at some point the islands had been completely abandoned. "Sierra wouldn't have sent us here if it was deserted... right?" Demyx asked warily, glancing around like he was expecting an ambush.

Lexaeus shook his head. "No. She doesn't play around like that. If they really have been deserted then the most likely explanation is that she didn't know about it."

Just then two little kids came running over to them. A girl and a boy- obviously brother and sister. The boy grinned from ear to ear as he came to a halt in front of Demyx. "Hi! I've never seen you guys before, are you from around here?" his head tilted a little to the side. Dark auburn spiky hair undisturbed by gravity.

"Not exactly." Zexion replied calmly. He had obviously smelled them approaching and not bothered to mention it to either of his companions. "What are your names, anyway?" he added with a smile.

"I'm Noel! And this's my twin sister Lily!"

The girl smiled almost shyly and gave a tiny wave. "Hiya."

"Nice to meetcha!" Demyx grinned back at them. "Hey, do you guys know someone called Sora? We're kinda looking for him."

"Oh! So your dad's friends? We get tons of visitors from all over the place. Apparently dad used to travel all over the place. Made loads of friends at the same time. My favorites are that Cloud guy and the pretty woman with the big chest!" Lily giggled slightly at her twin.

"Your dad is Sora?" Lexaeus questioned. The last time he'd seen Sora he had only been three to five years older than these kids - and not the most mature of people either. It was hard to believe that he would already have settled down and started a family. Although now he noticed that both twins had keychains hanging from silver necklaces on them. Noel had Oblivion and he was pretty sure that Lily had Ultima... although he had never actually seen that particular blade with his own eyes.

"Yup! If you want we can--" Noel was cut off by an angry sounding yell and three people running towards them. Lexaeus only just managed to summon his tomahawk to prevent the familiar Oathkeeper blade from making contact with his almost-healed torso. Zexion was backed up against the Gummi Ship with a wing-shaped keyblade at his throat and Demyx had summoned his sitar to block any attempts made by the last keyblade.

"Noel! Lily! Get back to the house." Sora ordered. He looked different. Taller and more muscular (if only a little) even a bit less child-like. But his hair and eyes were still the same.

"But dad..." Noel started a whiny protest only to be dragged away by Lily. She seemed to be the more sensible of the two and had sensed that things could get dangerous around here fairly quick.

"What the Hell are you still doing alive?!" Riku snarled viciously, glaring mostly at Zexion and Lexaeus.

"We just wanted to talk with you guys!" Demyx responded, eyeing the weapons warily. He had no desire to go back to that endless blackness. Never. Being there just that one time had been more than enough to last him five lifetimes.

"Yeah, right. We don't want anything to do with you _Nobodies_!" that world held unrestrained venom. Clearly Riku had no trouble expressing his severe distaste of them. "All you do is cause misery and suffering wherever you go, why should we listen to what you have to say!" that struck a chord. None of the three of them were exactly proud of what they'd done before but they had been convinced that it had been necessary for their goal. Although Xemnas had probably been the only one who really knew what that goal was supposed to be. Everyone else had just told themselves that it was to get their hearts back and live out their lives. In retrospect that might not have been the case.

Before anything else could be said Riku drew back his Way to Dawn and made to thrust it into Zexion's chest. There was a loud clang of metal when it instead collided with Lexaeus' tomahawk. The Silent Hero's eyes narrowed at the silver-haired man before swinging the large weapon to send Riku skidding away across the sand. Riku growled angrily and lunged for the large Nobody who spread his feet apart and prepared his battle stance. He was dimly aware of Demyx making an attempt at convincing Sora with words and the woman he assumed to be Kairi shouting for Riku to calm down. Once again their weapons collided. Lexaeus heard the faint murmer of the sand and willed it to encircle Riku up to his knees. Unfortunately sand is a very loose and brittle form of Earth. It heeded his commands and attempted to follow them through only to be knocked back each and every time by Way to Dawn until it finally relented and he could concentrate once more on the real target.

Taken off-guard by the speed Riku had gained since their last battle Lexaeus was unable to avoid the keyblade slicing into his arm. He let out the faintest hiss of pain before swinging his tomahawk through the sand to send it flying into the younger man's eyes. Riku let out a cry and stumbled backwards. "Lexaeus. That's enough!" Zexion ordered, his eyes narrowed. It may only have been the Replica which had destroyed the clone but it had been the real Riku who he had fought agaisnt in Cstle Oblivion all those years ago. He would much rather let Lexaeus continue fighting even if it was only in defence of the other two. Which Zexion knew was the case. However this was not in their best interests.

"Fighting each other will get us nowhere." he added calmly before facing Sora. "Can I count on you to keep Riku under control until you've heard us out?"

"Alright but you better have a good reason for being here." Sora warned after a slight nod. "Kairi, go check on the twins, okay?" he added to his wife who nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek as well as a squeeze to his shoulder.

"Be careful okay Sora? I don't trust them." Sora just grinned reassuringly and nodded. Clearly not entirely convinced Kairi headed off in the direction in which the twins had left. Her keyblade disappearing in the process.

"Go on. Explain." Sora prompted, lowering his own keyblade but not getting rid of it entirely. He didn't trust them and rightly so. After all the Organization had put him through a lot, half of which had been lost to his memory. Which was probably a good thing for them...

Demyx explained the situation as quickly as he could without missing anything that would make it difficult for them to understand. Then he dug around in his pocket and took out a Kier Crystal. "This is what they use for those experiments I told you about." he said handing it to Sora so he could look it over. "I know you probably could care less about Axel and the others... but at the very least consider helping us take these guys out. If they're left unchecked then they could prove an even bigger threat to the worlds than Organization XIII ever was." he sighed and paused, looking at Sora to see if he could gauge the man's reaction. He actually looked a bit more like Roxas now... except older. He was positive he could see the former number XIII standing behind Sora, whispering to the keyblade master. But it was probably just a trick of the light.

"And why should we believe you?" Riku sneered. "How do we know that as soon as we get rid of these 'Dorchadas' that you wont just go back to terrorising people?" his eyes were still narrowed and his fingers twitched every so often.

"Of course we don't expect you to believe us." Lexaeus spoke up. "Especially after everything my companions and myself have put the both of you through. However I give you my word that such a thing will not be allowed to occur. Zexion, Demyx and I will ensure that as soon as the hearts are restored to their respective owners the Organization will be officially disbanded. Along with all of its goals and objectives." he assured. "And besides, I have business of my own with one man in that order. Should you help then I will be eternally in your debt." It was a bold statement. Essentially he was binding himself to the two younger men. Zexion could see this but made no move to stop his friend. That's how serious he was about Sierra's dying wish.

"And afterwards you wont ever have to hear from any of us ever again." Demyx piped up. "We'll settle down somewhere and never bother you."

Riku looked at Sora who seemed to be deep in thought. "Okay, we'll help. But if I find out that you're planning on tricking us then neither of us will hesitate to kill you. Got it?" he looked serious until the three Nobodies nodded their agreement to his terms. Then a large grin spread across his face. "Alright then! We'll head off tomorrow. You guys can stay with me and Kairi tonight." So we can keep an eye on you. He didn't need to say it. The Nobodies got the message loud and clear. He still didn't completely trust them and they knew it.

* * *

A/N: Woo chapter sixteen! Yes that's pretty much my first fight scene ever so I cut it short and it's probably not the best ever but at least I put one in. However there will definitely be more fight scenes later on so hopefully I'll have gotten better at them by then. Also about the twins I had actually been watching either the Big Fat Quiz of the Year or the Big Fat Anniversary Quiz. Whichever one Lilly Allan (I think that's how her last name is spelt...) was on. So I stole her's and Noel's first names for the twins

Anyways hope you enjoyed it! As always any form of reviews are appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17

Overall dinner with the keybearers was pretty tense. Conversation was strained and even Sora's smiles were forced. The twins seemed completely unaware of all of this as they chatted away to each other, giggled and asked questions that only kids could get away with.

They appeared to be getting particularly fond of Demyx - he must have an affinity of some kind with children. Lexaeus had a sneaking suspicion that Lily might even be developing one of those little-girl-crushes on the blond from the way she was batting her lashes and twirling her hair while gazing at the Nocturne. She even pouted whenever he payed slightly more attention to her brother than to her. Of course he remained completely oblivious to the whole situation.

When Kairi eventually decided that it was time to put the twins to bed Demyx offered to help sing them to sleep. The debating and protesting ended when Noel began crying. So now it was just Zexion and Lexaeus sitting opposite Riku and Sora in the living room.

"All right, you mentioned earlier that you've got some kind of beef with one of these 'Dorchadas' guys. What exactly did they do to you?" Riku questioned after a long tense silence.

"It wasn't me that he wronged, not directly. Rather he murdered someone and as a last request from that person I will strike him down." Lexaeus said, sounding quite calm to Sora and Riku. But Zexion could see the brief tensing of his old friend's jaw muscles coupled with the slight strain in his voice that betrayed an inner struggle to keep the shadows of his emotions at bay.

For a moment Zexion could have sworn that Sora's eyes turned a shade darker and a frown replaced his usual smile. A frown that any Nobody belonging to Organization XIII would recognise. _Perhaps you are not completely lost after all Roxas... You can see Lexaeus' struggle as well ... maybe with your help Sora will come to see that this time around we are his allies and not a threat to him or his friends._

"But who _did _he murder?" Sora prompted "And who is 'he' anyway?"

Before anyone could reply they were interrupted by a nervous throat clearing. "Um... guys?" they all turned to see a nervous - looking Demyx with a very much unconscious Kairi lying bridal-style in his arms. The Nocturne was chewing on his bottom lip slightly, looking completely at a loss as to what he should do about the young woman he was carrying.

Zexion sighed and rubbed his forehead between his thumb and forefinger. "Demyx what did you do?"

"Well I uh was just upstairs singing for the kids... 'cause they're pretty cool you know? Then I sorta forgot that Kairi was in there with us... so I kept going for a bit longer until I heard this thud and she was unconscious..." Demyx sighed guiltily. "I didn't want to try waking her up 'cause she'd probably think I was trying to do stuff to her, which I which I wouldn't! So I brought her back down here..." he explained as Sora took his wife from Demyx's arms and settled her down in one of the free chairs. The Nocturne gratefully took this opportunity to sit down on the free side of Lexaeus.

"You _could_ have just left her there you know." Zexion commented, earning an affronted glare from the blond musician.

"I couldn't do that! It would've been rude after she went to all the trouble of cooking enough for us to eat as well even though she didn't have to..."

"It's done so let's just move on from it." Riku snorted. "You were about to explain who this guy you were talking about was."

Lexaeus shook his head slightly. "Unfortunately we don't know too much about him except that he's one of the higher ranking members within Dorchadas. His name is Kyndeyrn ... and the woman he murdered was called Sierra..."

"Auntie Sierra?!" Sora exclaimed, forgetting that Kairi was sleeping just a couple of feet away from him. "Y-you mean she's gone?"

"Rai and Fuu called her 'auntie' as well. How come? I mean somehow I doubt you're all related to her or anything." Demyx inquired, partly because he was curious but also because he knew that they didn't need the memories of Lexaeus' emotions getting the better of him.

"When she came to Twilight Town thirteen years ago she mostly kept to herself with that dog of hers. But she was always willing to accept company from everyone else there. Then when Seifer and Hayner disappeared she was the one who provided the comfort they all needed. Rai in particular, Fuu's never been good at making people feel better and he still hadn't managed to get close to Pence or Olette so for a while Sierra was all the guy had... that's when everyone started calling her 'Auntie'." Sora explained sadly.

"Strange... I never would have pinned Sierra to be the kind of person to harbor maternal instincts." Zexion mused, hand on his chin.

"I did." Zexion looked up at his old friend and chuckled lightly.

"Then again you _did_ know her better than anyone else ever did." Lexaeus didn't even bother responding to the younger male's comment. Sora frowned, lips set in a thin line.

"What do you mean? How do you guys know her?"

Demyx smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I don't ... but the others do." Sora looked over at the larger nobody and the slate-haired schemer. Making sure to meet their eyes in an effort to try and get something out of them. A little voice in the back of his head was telling him not to bother, that Lexaeus would tell him when and if he needed to know. But Sora ignored it, Sierra had been his friend. However distantly. So if these two knew anything then he wanted to find out what it was.

Zexion had opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Lexaeus' rumbling voice. "It doesn't matter any more how we know her. Just know this: I am not going to allow her death to go unavenged. It goes against my nature." the Silent Hero sighed wearily. "Thank you for your hospitality but I'm afraid we should try and get some sleep before tomorrow."

* * *

"I guess he's still taking it hard then." Demyx muttered to Zexion once he was sure that their larger companion was asleep. The Schemer looked over at him with a slight glare, having been half on the way to slumber himself.

"And wouldn't you? Those two had known each other for years in Radiant Garden, and Aeleus had been intrigued by that woman for even longer. You could say he never had a chance. From the day Aeleus first spotted Sierra and the rest of her platoon during a drill, although he definitely didn't know it at the time, he only had eyes for her." Zexion shifted a little so that he was no longer craning his neck as he spoke to the blond Neophyte. "Perhaps not in love, not yet, merely curious. He wanted to get to know her. And who wouldn't have? Now... don't get me wrong in this Sierra has never been the most beautiful of people, but her dark skin made her stand out and there was a certain charm in that rare crooked smile of hers. But it was mostly that she had made it into Radiant Garden's militia. A woman had managed to become a professional soldier. That was an extremely rare accomplishment - and a feat worthy of recognition."

Demyx watched Zexion intently, taking in the information. The Schemer was a lot freer in giving out stories and tidbits from the past of the original six than Lexaeus. He didn't know about the others, when the organization was still whole the Nocturne hadn't been able to go up and ask any of them. Not even Xigbar who he'd been quite close to.

"You never would've thought would ya? If you'd only ever met her after she'd been with Dorchadas you'd never guess she'd have been like that. Not looking the way she did... so old and just frail."

Zexion nodded slightly in agreement. Having lived in the same house as her he knew exactly what Demyx was talking about. "Now go to sleep, we're leaving in the morning." he grunted, laying back down and pulling the covers over his head, signifying beyond any doubt that there was no way he was going to answer any more of Demyx's questions that night.

* * *

A/N: Soooo late! But I've been busy with school crap again, trips and homework and having to look at colleges and universities and stuff cos this is my last year before I go on to things like that. But luckily I'm taking a year off to think things through and earn some money while I'm at it. Thinking about studying law at Dundee, either that or some kind of writing/media course somewhere.

But anyway thanks for being patient with me guys, I really appreciate it. Also get ready because the real fun's just about to begin! And all hell will break loose it's fury! :D

As always any form of review is appreciated, especially the constructive criticism. Love you guys to bits. And by the way October break is coming up so I'll have a few weeks to get stuck in with this so hopefully at least two more chapters during that time, if not then here's a consolation: I'm gonna start taking requests from you guys for stories. If there's something you want to see me write send me the request (either by messaging or review I don't mind which).

P.S. If anyone would like to BETA for me I'd appreciate it.

See ya next chapter.

xxx Gael


	18. Chapter 18

The ship was ready to leave. Sora and Riku were packed and had their respective weapons. Kairi had chosen to stay behind; someone had to keep an eye on the kids. Thankfully the twins were still sleeping otherwise Sora would be taking even longer to say goodbye. He and Kairi stood a little ways off, holding hands and talking quietly. Leaving the three Nobodies with Riku. Something none of them were particularly happy about.

Finally Sora came back, Kairi gave a small wave before heading into their house. Ready to deal with the twins when they woke up. "So where are we headed for now?" Riku asked breaking the tense silence as they all boarded the Gummi Ship.

"For the world where Kyndeyrn's base is situated. The co-ordinates are already saved in the ship's data banks." Zexion replied as he got into his seat. "Our best course of action is to first free our fellow Nobodies then hunt down as many of the Dorchadas as possible then take out their leaders. After that it should be a simple matter to complete the second objective and restore those hearts to their rightful bodies." he added as everyone else strapped themselves into their own respective seats: Lexaeus in the pilot's; Demyx in the one beside that and the keyblade wielders in the two seats that remained empty. "Getting in will be simple," the Schemer continued. "Agro will allow us entry without any questions asked and help out should we need anything further of him. Demyx and Lexaeus will be able to lead us to the room in which everyone is currently being kept in a comatose state. All we need do is break the containers and untie them. There shouldn't be much problems convincing everyone to work together for the simple fact that when we free them the most important thing going through their minds will be to get back at whoever trapped them. The fact that the both of you are currently offering aid shouldn't bother any of them too much until the battles are over so we'll deal with that when we get there."

As Zexion finished off Lexaeus finished the launch procedures and the ship took off. "Make sure you're all held securely. Once the engines have warmed up enough I'm going to activate the Warp Drive. That way we won't have to wait as long to reach our destination." Lexaeus cautioned them, turning his head slightly to make sure that they were listening.

"Are you sure that's safe, Lexaeus? Remember what happened the last time Warp Drive was activated..." Demyx inquired cautiously. He didn't exactly want another side-trip like the last one especially if it was to the same world.

"Last time the ship didn't have any co-ordinates put in before the drive was activated." the Silent Hero reminded him. And this time Lexaeus was completely in control of himself as well which would be a big help. They had lost a lot of valuable time after their last warp so they couldn't afford another error in judgment of that kind.

Sora nodded slightly, having understood the gist of what was going to happen. "So is this Agro guy a friend of yours or something?" he asked, wanting to get as much information on this as possible. Knowing his luck things would probably turn out more complicated than Zexion was currently anticipating.

"Not exactly. But he's on our side. Agro was a close friend of Sierra's and wants to take down this group of maniacs just as much as we do. Unfortunately that's all we know about him aside from what he looks like.

''Then how are you so sure he can be trusted?'' Riku spoke up again. Frowning around at the present Nobodies.

''Because he helped Sierra get away from them. Agro was the one who convinced Kyndeyrn to let her go." Demyx answered. In the week that Lexaeus had been unconscious Zexion had told him a few more things he knew regarding Dorchadas. All of which was second-hand from either Sierra or Agro. They had of course relayed this information to Lexaeus as well. They were comrades and friends and between the three of them they didn't hold back anything that might prove useful or even essential. However with the Silent Hero the past was kept as much to himself as possible. It was almost as if he would start to forget if he revealed too much from the safety of his mind.

''Hold on to something, I'm going to activate the Warp Drive'' Lexaeus interrupted, once satisfied that no-one was in danger of being thrashed around he pushed the button. Instantly the ship's passenger's were forced right back against their seats. Pressure trying to push them further and further as the ship moved too fast for the sharpest of eyes to catch. Just as suddenly as it had started it was over. The pressure lifted and all five were able to breathe once more.

''Everyone all right?'' Demyx asked, looking around as he received nods telling him that they were all fine.

Once the ship was safely on the ground, belts were unfastened and everyone headed out onto the land. ''Woah... this place looks completely dead.'' Sora muttered as he took in the barren landscape.

''Not quite but nearly. Those large rock formations are actually serpents.'' Lexaeus explained for him. As if to confirm his statement one of the formations moved, making a low rumbling sound that vaguely resembled a yawn.

''And completely harmless at that.'' a low voice said as a large man stepped into view. ''I'd been worried that something had happened to you. I expected you back here earlier than this.'' he added, pulling down his hood to reveal the shaggy brown mane that was his hair and the traditional handsomeness of his features. ''But you've arrived at a good time; Kyndeyrn and Mairsile have gone for a meeting and wont be back until at least late tonight.''

"So we should be able to proceed without being challened?" Agro nodded in confirmation to Zexion's inquiry. "Good, but can you tell us whether they have left the hearts within the base or if they took them to their destination?"

"I'm afraid not my friend, I am sorry. However I can show you where they would be if they are still within the base."

Lexaeus nodded. "Good enough. Come let's go."

Before either Sora or Riku could get a word in edge-wise the group, led by Agro, were heading inside. The corridors were exactly the same as last time. No differences between apart from a few cracks here and there. And yet the large man easily navigated his way around the labyrinth, never once having to stop and check his bearings.

However unlike during their last visit Demyx and Lexaeus noticed a distinct lack of people wandering the corridors. And there weren't any screams. ''Where is everyone?'' Demyx muttered to Agro as they turned a corner. ''Downstairs... the prisoners are getting their morning meal. They need everyone down there in case some escape and cause a rampage.'' there was a definite scowl to the man's voice however they could not see it. He had his hood up again, covering his face, and his back was towards them as he strode ahead in front of the others.

There was silence for a few more moments until they found themselves in front of a door. Agro took out a key and twisted it around in the lock until there was a small click and he was able to push it open.

He jerked his head to indicate that they should all get inside the room.Taking his silent advice the three Nobodies went in first – Sora and Riku hesitating for a moment before following suit. They still didn't completely trust this man no matter what the others said. "Is this the room where the other Nobodies are being kept?" Sora asked curiously as he looked around the room. Lexaeus, Demyx and Agro both nodded. "So where are they then?"

In answer to his question Agro flipped a switch on the wall. The familiar whirring and clicking sounded in the air as the ten cylindrical pods rose up from the floor. Sora's and Riku's eyes went wide in shock as they saw their enemies floating unconscious inside the pods. Looking about as dangerous as a cactus without needles.

Sora looked as if he was about to be sick as Zexion noticed the shadow of Roxas once more. _Now do you see why we need your help, Roxas? Even with Lexaeus' profound physical strength we cannot go up against these people without aid. We need all thirteen of us to work together in this. Once more the Organization needs its key-bearer._

While all of this was going on Agro had gone to the desk and started fishing around in the drawers until he pulled out a medium-sized plain wooden box. "Here they are. All twelve of them. I'll leave the hearts in your capable hands my friends. You won't be able to open the box yet. Not until Kyndeyrn himself is dead. That's the spell Mairsile cast on it. The lid will open when Kyndeyrn draws his last breath." He took a long breath and sighed. "I have to leave now. When next we meet I shall be no more than another member of Dorchadas. So treat me the same as you would any of the others. Watch for the brown bear with the black stripe along his back. That bear will be me."

Before any of them could voice protests Agro left the room, closing the door behind him. "All the more reason to end that man's life." Lexaeus muttered, holding out a hand as he summoned his trusty tomahawk. "Sora. Riku. Can you help me with these pods?" he asked, not even looking at them. His blue eyes fixed on the offending containers.

"Yeah." the keyblade wielders nodded and summoned their own weapons.

"Let's do this!" and with that all three of them lunged forward, slashing and slamming their weapons against the pods in turn until they all smashed and the thick liquid began pouring out onto the floor. Nobodies started coughing and spluttering as the sudden exposure to air woke them from their sleep. Saïx regaining his senses a bit quicker than the others began ripping off the belts which were keeping him in place. Golden eyes flashing murderously as he bared his teeth in an angry snarl.

Zexion's clone merely vanished as soon as it made contact with the air.

Soon all of the former captives were standing up by themselves and getting their memories back of what had happened to them. "Ugh! Those creeps, I should turn them all into living lightning rods!" Larxene hissed as she attempted to get the remnants of liquid from her hair and skin.

"You'll get your chance, Larxene. As shall the rest of us." Marluxia said placatingly with a hand on her shoulder.

Vexen snorted, sneering at the Graceful Assassin. "How ironic, a traitor like yourself talking about revenge for _all_ of us!"

"Enough." Lexaeus rumbled putting an end to the squabble before it even began. "This is neither the time nor the place tp settle petty grievances." everyone looked at the large muscular man. Taken aback by the rare show of assertiveness.

Xemnas recovered from his shock the fastest. "Indeed. For now, as distasteful as the idea may sound, we must band together as when the Organization was first established. I estimated our enemies to number in the thousands and as such we shall require the help of every warrior we can muster. Already numbers 5, 6 and 9 have secured the aid of both keyblade wielders. And I even feel the presence of our hearts close by! The three of you have indeed done exceptionally well and you shall not go unrewarded for your combined efforts. The efforts which have brought us so close to our goal that I can practically taste success!" all throughout his speech Xemnas' arms moved in dramatic gestures while he strode around the group in order to get around everyone present.

"Yeah, yeah." a familiar cocky drawl sounded from where Axel was leaning boredly against the wall. "Tell me Xemnas what makes you believe any of us with half a brain cell would be willing to follow you again, hm? After all look where it got us last time: trapped in pods filled with Kingdom Hearts knows what." he smirked pushing himself off the wall. "I say we just take our hearts and get lost. How about you guys?"

A murmur rippled through the newly awoken Nobodies with the exceptions of Xaldin and Xigbar who remained as quiet as Demyx, Zexion, Lexaeus and the keybearers. Until Zexion spoke up. "A most tempting offer Axel, were it even a possibility we could consider. This container is sealed tight with magic which will only break when the man who captured you is dead. Until that is done our hearts remain out of reach." he paused for a moment. "Now if any do not wish to take part then feel free to drop out." No-one spoke up to say that they would. He was just about to continue when Xigbar's drawl broke the silence.

"As if. I don't know about the rest of you but no way am I sitting around while those bastards walk free." he walked forward casually until he rested an elbow on Demyx's shoulder. "Besides I can't let you three have all the fun now can I? Count me in."

"I believe you may 'count me in' as well old friends. This is a rather personal matter now and I would rather partake in the resolution instead of someone who wasn't even vaguely involved in the incident." Xaldin said as he too joined them.

Lexaeus nodded approvingly. He'd known he could count on those two. Not only because of their past friendship but also because he knew them both well enough to know they would never let something like this go until they were satisfied the ones responsible had paid their debt in full. And besides they were bloody good fighters. One by one the rest of the Organization voiced their will to stay and fight as well. Even Axel agreed in the end.

"Right so what do we do now that that's over?" Riku asked, arms folded across his chest. He wanted nothing more than to just destroy every last one of them and be done with it.

"We head downstairs. And have a little party." Xigbar exposed his teeth in a feral grin as his guns materialised in his hands. "Show these punks who they messed with. 'Cause we're the Organization!" and he laughed. Long chuckles echoed by Larxene's sadistic cackle, Luxord's refined chortle and Axel's anticipating snicker. Soon joined by a number of the others until the room was filled with their sounds of mirth and glee.

* * *

A/N: That's me on holidays now so I'm celebrating by giving you chapter 18. The Organization's back bitches!! And they mean business. I'm happy but at the same time kinda down 'cause this means that I'm going to need to end the story at some point pretty soon. But on the plus side I'm thinking of turning it into a bit of a trilogy since I already have an idea for a sequel and sort of an idea for something after that. However there is a high possibility of yaoi pairings in the third part (not in the second one) just to warn any of you that don't like reading stories with those in them. There won't be many of them and they won't be the cliche ones (Akuroku Soriku Zemyx etc) if only because I like avoiding the things that are really popular and being awkward in general. So yeah it will be safe to read the sequel to Heroes Melody whatever I end up calling it. And I'll let you guys decide whether yaoi pairings show up in the third story and even which pairings. There will be a poll up on my account about it.

Thanks for reading, huge love to all you readers and reviewers. And (sounds like a broken record now) all reviews appreciated. Also remember if there's something you want me to write for you then just let me know and I'll get on it ASAP.


	19. Chapter 19

The final death scream was cut short when one of Larxene's kunai severed the unfortunate man's throat. Over two hundred red and black robed bodies littered the floor and around fifty animal corpses, ranging from birds of prey to large felines and canines. There was even a scattering of serpents and crocodiles. The key bearers had moved on to the next rooms to free the prisoners.

"Hmph, not even a decent warm up." Axel sighed, shaking his head as he dismissed his chakrams. "No wonder they got left here to make sure the captives ate their gruel." he added, nudging the nearest body with his foot. The hood fell away to reveal a fairly average looking teenage girl, just getting over the worst of her acne. Mousy brown hair and hazel coloured eyes. "Heh, can't even recruit decent warriors. What do they do? Pick people randomly from the streets or whatever world they happen to be in at the time?" the Flurry of Dancing Flames snorted.

"It's quite possible." Luxord nodded. "However I believe that these people were most likely chosen for academic prowess rather than fighting ability. If you look closely enough you can tell that many of the fallen were aged or at the very least lacking in any sort of visible muscle. Although with some it is fairly hard to tell from all the body fat." he mused, wandering around the corpses.

Other Nobodies had broken off into groups and were talking together. Some discussing possibilities as to the wellfare and fighting skill of the prisoners that were being freed: whether they would be useful allies or not. While others, namely Xigbar, were getting themselves psyched for the bigger battles they all knew were to come after this. The warriors within Dorchadas were probably gathered with the Higher Ups or out on various missions across the many worlds. The conversations stopped when footsteps echoed from the corridor signaling the return of Sora, Riku and the prisoners.

And there were a lot of them.

They easily outnumbered thedead three to one. Men, women, children, teenagers, elders and even infants being carried in a parent's arms. "These are all of the ones still alive." Sora told them bitterly. "There were another hundred or so but they were all dead."

A heavily scarred man with cropped black hair and green eyes stepped forward. "Yous all're the ones what save us right?" He didn't even wait for an answer before continuing. "These two told us you was gonna go after the rest of Dorchadas this true? 'Cause if it is then you got my clan behind ya all the way!" he slapped his left fist against his right collarbone. Face set in grim determination. "They've murdered our wives and our sons and daughters. In their memory we'll help you destroy Dorchadas!" a chorus of a cross beteen cheers and battle cries rose from the people of this man's clan.

"My people too will help." this time it was a woman, tanned with misty grey eyes. "To end their tyranny and ensure they harm no-one else. We may be no help with the physical violence but our magical skills will prove a great help to your cause. That is what I believe."

A few other 'groups' and individuals voiced their wills to join forces with the Nobodies. However many of them were too sick and tired of it all or had families that needed to take priority over vengeance. Still there were a good enough number of them to boost the chances of success. "And how will you all get home?" Xaldin inquired as he looked over the horde that had been gathered in this hall.

"There's two large ships in a hanger not far from where we were held." said a middle aged, starved looking man with an odd vaguely purplish birthmark on the side of his neck. "Those of us going home can take one, everyone else can take the other to wherever they'll be going." he explained, gravelly voiced and strangely calm. He wasn't full of rage or determination. He wasn't even slightly panicked or emotional. And he seemed to be the only one. Which probably also meant he was the only one of the gathered prisoners who was thinking clearly.

Lexaeus looked at him, gathering as much as he could about the man from his physical appearance. His body language and what the man's eyes told him. "And you'll take responsibility for getting everyone home?"

The man nodded once, not flinching away but meeting the Silent Hero's gaze. "Aye, back home I was one of the best pilots of my generation. You can count on me to ensure they all arrive safe and sound, sir." satisfied with this Lexaeus nodded at the man before turning to face their new allies.

"Now, can any of you pilot a ship?" a plain looking teenage girl raised her hand.

"I used to have my own cargo ship back home. Never missed a deadline or lost any shipments. Did all the flying myself, sir."

"Then you will take charge of the other craft." Zexion stated stepping forward. "Your destination is a world known as Hollow Bastion, there you'll find some others who will be willing to help with our cause." he added firmly, looking around at them. "Ask for a young woman called 'Gav' and tell them that you were sent there by Lexaeus. Then explain the situation. If at all possible then we will be drawing Dorchadas to that world where we shall fight them. If not then we'll send someone to inform you of the change of plan." then he turned to the key bearers. "The two of you should go with them as a precaution. They'll be more likely to trust the information if it is you backing it up. Unless any of you have an objection to the plan? If so then feel free to voice it."

Lexaeus smiled slightly and shook his head. Good old Zexion, he could always rely on the Schemer to have something up his sleeve when no-one else would have thought to sort out a plan. He heard no complaints only some murmurs of agreement rippling through the crowd. Apparently the idea was going down well with them at the very least. "Sure, I've been meaning to pay Leon and the others a visit anyway." Sora said with a goofy grin. As was evident from his face he was greatly looking forward to seeing his friends again.

"All right then!" Demyx grinned widely. "You have a safe journey. You hear me?" he added to Sora and Riku. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to you guys before this all kicks off."

"Yeah, you got it." Sora nodded as he and Riku turned to follow the former captives to the hangers. Leaving the Organization to polish off the finer details of what they were going to do next. Marluxia, Larxene, Xemnas and Vexen approached the others from where they'd been standing a little distance away. Not all together of course, Vexen had been standing with Xemnas, while Larxene had been with Marluxia.

"So what do we do now?" Vexen asked sharply, pointedly not making any eye contact with any of the Neophytes. "Do we just wait around this place for that filthy rat to return? Or do we attempt to lure him out in some way?"

"We have it from a very reliable source that Kyndeyrn will return within a few hours at the most. Earlier if his 'meeting' finished quicker than anticipated." Zexion began. "We should head back to the room where your pods were contained as that will likely be the first place he goes; seeing as it appears to be his office. At which point we'll confront the man and end his life. Unless anyone has a better idea that is?"

"Sounds good to me Squirt." Xigbar grinned. "As long as we get rid of the bastard any plan's fine by me."

"I don't have any objections." Xemnas agreed. He clearly wasn't used to not being in charge which was making him uncertain and withdrawn. As such this was the first thing he'd said to the group for a while.

"Why not? Any plan is better than no plan at all." Marluxia intoned smoothly. Over fifteen years of being trapped didn't seem to have changed him one bit.

"Then it's settled, we should head back now then if we don't want Kyndeyrn to miss the welcome back party we have planned for him! Got it memorized?" Axel offered, already half way towards the stairs, waving slightly behind him to indicate to the other eleven Nobodies to do the same just in case they missed the show.

* * *

An hour and a half after reaching the 'office' and Kyndeyrn still hadn't shown up. The waiting was starting to get to them, except for Lexaeus and Zexion who remained patient. Had Kyndeyrn got wind of what had happened here and gone to Hollow Bastion instead? Were they all just wasting their time?

"It does not appear as if this 'Kyndeyrn' will be showing his face." Xemnas finally voiced what was going through many of their minds. "He is clearly a coward and, having heard of the defeat of his sub-ordinates has realised that he has no chance against all of us at once and has fled. Abandoning this place and all those who were within. I suggest we leave and track him down ourselves before we end up waiting in here for the rest of eternity."

Lexaeus looked over at him steadily. "No, he'll come. I may only have met the man once, and Kyndeyrn is indeed a lot of things, but he is no coward. You don't rise up to his kind of rank in something like Dorchadas by cowering behind people bigger than you."

Xemnas frowned, unused to being questioned. Especially by Lexaeus who so rarely spoke in his presence in the past. And yet as usual the Silent Hero spoke sense. So he was unable to argue his point any further. In the space of a few minutes Xemnas had lost all authority he'd had over his Organization. They had stripped him of his rank and his status which he knew were the only reason he had survived so long. None of the others had challenged him because they had thought there was a good reason why Xemnas was the Superior. Of course the original six had known better but they had been content enough with the way things were going not to bother trying to overthrow him. But now it was all gone. In fact in a way they had all lost their ranks, subconsciously cast them aside upon waking up and finding themselves free, now all twelve were equal, none more important or respected than another. Just twelve people with a shared purpose. They were no longer his Organization. He couldn't assume authority over them any longer.

Then came the footsteps and two voices. A man and a woman. Voices that Demyx and Lexaeus both recognised and despised.

Kyndeyrn and Mairsille.

* * *

A/N: Okay here's nineteen for ya. And also to make things easier for everyone who was voting I'm putting up an edited version of the poll. Multiple choice and just a list of the possible couples. So hopefully that'll work out better. Sorry to the three of you who already voted on the other one.

Anyway I'm pretty chuffed with this chapter and how it's worked out. Next time we have a nice battle planned for all you lovely readers.

And to disneytiger who agreed to be my beta I'm sorry for posting this up first but for some reason the thing kept on not sending (and knowing my luck it'll be today you get it). So yeah sorry about that but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

UPDATE: Has now been BETAed. So major thanks to dinseytiger for that. And the new Poll's up in case anyone's interested. Thanks for reading and big love to all of you.


	20. Chapter 20

There was silence when Kyndeyrn opened the door as he and the robed woman beside him were faced with twelve armed Nobodies whose intent was nothing less than murder. Their weapons summoned and ready for the impending combat. The man stood there for a moment in shock, just staring at the eleven men and one woman who gazed at him with murder in their eyes.

Beside him Mairsille growled fiercely, hands clenching into fists. "How _dare_ you?! You actually dare to betray the terms of our deal?!" she spat in the direction of Lexaeus and Demyx who stood next to each other. "You filth... you wretched _Nobodies_! To think we were actually going to return your hearts...! I'll make you pay for his!!" Mairsille shrieked, ready to lunge. Only to find herself being stopped by Kyndeyrn grabbing hold of her shoulder. Looking as calm as ever as he met the eyes of each Nobody. Preventing any further movements from his female companion with ease.

"Calm down, dear. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable solution to this whole thing."

"... Yes Kyndeyrn." she muttered reluctantly and he removed his hand approvingly as Larxene cackled loudly in amusement. Lowering her kunai as she did so. "What the hell's you're problem?!" Mairsille snapped in frustration. Clearly wanting nothing more than to disobey orders but too scared of her superior to do so.

"Call yourself a woman?" the Savage Nymph sneered. "You're nothing more than a whipped little bitch crawling around at her master's bidding. So desperate to please that you've sacrificed your own dignity and pride. Why I'd be surprised if you even breathed without your beloved Kyn-kyn's permission!" the cackling resumed making Mairsille grind her teeth loudly.

"Now now, surely we can talk this over as reasonable adults?" Kyndeyrn asked, looking around at all of them. A pleasant smile to his voice.

"I'm afraid not." Saïx spoke up. "You see we do not take kindly to being locked up and submerged in gunk. If you wish to talk however you may do so to our weapons." The berserker let out a low roar and started to race towards the two robed people only to find Lexaeus' tomahawk in his way. The Silent Hero staring grimly forward at Kyndeyrn, the female beside him not even registering. "What are you doin, Lexaeus?" Saïx growled, irritated that his way was stopped.

"This one's mine." was the only explanation Lexaeus gave, never once taking his eyes off Kyndeyrn.

Kyndeyrn stepped forward, pushing Mairsille to one side. "I see that sending you to Twilight Town to meet with Sierra wasn't a completewaste of time then. It had the desired effect and strengthened your determination even further." he mused, dropping his hood to reveal pale skin with an eye patch over the right eye which had a large vertical scar across it. Instead of hair Kyndeyrn's head was shaven and sported intricate tribal tattoos. "Tell me how were her last moments? I'd _hate_ to think she died in pain." Thin lips pulled back into a smirk which revealed fang-like canine teeth.

At the mention of Sierra Lexaeus tensed and the former apprentices began to murmur amongst themselves. "Everyone back off!" Xaldin called out to the rest of the Nobodies. Some of whom voiced individual protests and asking why. "I said _back_!" the Whirlwind Lancer bellowed. Eventually they complied, allbeit reluctantly. Looking at the original six for an explanation. Surprised that it was in fact Demyx who answered them.

"This is his fight, we have no right getting involved." he said looking at his large friend. "He has a death to avenge."

"And because of that we have to sit back and watch while he has all the fun??" Axel questioned with a frown on his face.

"Yes." Zexion said simply. "Because Lexaeus would do the same for any of us. And there will be plenty of chances for you all to fight when we face the other Higher-Ups. So for now we wait and if it looks like we'll need to step in then we will." the Cloaked Schemer added calmly as Kyndeyrn lunged forward, pulling out a chain whip from within his robes.

Lexaeus swung his tomahawk, aiming to hit Kyndeyrn as he ran. But the man jumped up and avoided the blow, aiming one of his own at Lexaeus' head. Only to find the Silent Hero ducking and slamming his arm into Kyndeyrn's stomach, sending him flying back against the wall. Mairsille let out an enraged shriek, leaping into the air. And right before their eyes she was engulfed in shadow. Leaving behind a livid eagle. Flapping her wings, propelling through the air straight for Lexaeus' face. Meaning to claw out his eyes with her sharp talons. The bird shrieked again when one of Xaldin's lances flew past her, barely inches from her face. Forcing her to try and slow herself down. At which point a hand closed itself around her right leg. For the third time a loud shriek escaped from her beak as she flapped her wings and twisted and struggled in an attempt to free herself from the hand of her captor. "Sorry birdie but if we ain't allowed to join in then neither are you." Xigbar taunted. Lips pulled back in his trademark feral grin.

Meanwhile the duel between Kyndeyrn and Lexaeus was continuing. The man was proving to be a worthy opponent at the very least. Now his chain whip had metal spikes protruding out of it and as a result had managed to get a few cuts and gashes on Lexaeus. But the Silent Hero had done damage of his own. One of Kyndeyrn's ribs was at the very least cracked and as a result he had slowed down. Making it easier for Lexaeus to attack. All the time Mairsille was shrieking in rage and in fear for Kyndeyrn.

The spiked metal whip clanged against the vast tomahawk as both opponents attacked and parried each other. A particularly fierce blow to Kyndeyrn's stomach sent him flying once more and blood spurted from his mouth. The Nobodies watching Lexaeus fighting with awe, many of them had never had the chance to see him in battle until now. Bar the original six of course. Still held firmly by Xigbar Mairsille screeched in concern for her master. This couldn't be happening... Kyndeyrn was a Higher Up! He wasn't supposed to be capable of losing in battle! Particularly to a Nobody like this man. Kyndeyrn let out a furious animalistic growl, amber eyes blazing as he locked gazes with the Silent Hero. "Do not think you're going to win, my friend. That isn't something I can allow to happen!" Lexaeus didn't respond, he simply raised his tomahawk again in preparation for another devastating blow. Then Kyndeyrn did somethine unexpected. He lunged forward with a cry and sunk his teeth into the flesh of Lexaeus' forearm. Causing the Silent Hero to cry out a little from the pain, clutching at it wit his free hand while Kyndeyrn crouched down on all fours. As had happened moments earlier with Mairsille the man was completely engulfed by shadows. Which, once they dispersed, revealed a large Golden Jackel. Roughly three to five times larger than a normal one. With a black collar sporting metal studs adorned his throat. The symbol of his status within Dorchadas.

Kyndeyrn took full advantage of the shock and lunged forward once more; sharp curved fangs ready to sink into the large Nobody's body again. Lexaeus recovered just in time to slam his tomahawk into the Jackel's side. Making the giant creature yowl in pain as it was thrown against the wall once more. Baring his fangs in a threatening growl Kyndeyrn bounded forwards and sunk his teeth into Lexaeus leg. The Silent Hero hissed through his teeth and slammed his other foot into the ground creating such a force that the jackal was pushed away from the limb it had been clinging to. Yelping from surprise as he skid across the floor. Stopping mere feet away from Larxene before pouncing again. Only to find his throat caught in Lexaeus' unforgiving grip. The jackal twisted and barked and whined and yelped as he tried in vain to free himself. But Lexaeus' grip stayed firm.

_"Fool... what do you think destroying us will accomplish? There will always be someone else to take our place just as we took yours!" _Kyndeyrn growled, lips retreating to show gritted fangs. Lexaeus just stared at him in his characteristic silence. _"Killing Dorchadas will do nothing for any of you in the end except sign your own death warrents. Or... perhaps there's another reason you insisted on fighting me by yourself? A dark-skinned woman?" _Kyndeyrn's voice slowly changed to include what sounded like a knowing smirk. And he laughed when the Silent Hero's grip tightened even more. _"I thought so. But I wonder how you can exact vengeance upon me when you do not posess that which is necessary to be able to mourn her passing?"_ Kyndeyrn started taunting. _"It truly was a shame that her body wasn't capable of withstanding the treatments for as long as I had hoped."_

Before he could say anything more Lexaeus shut his hand even tighter to prevent the Jackal from being able to breathe properly. Dark blue eyes narrowed with a remembered shadow of pure hatred. "Because it was her last request." the Silent Hero stated simply.

Kyndeyrn started laughing again. _"If vengeance is your goal then you have the wrong man, my friend. I merely subjected her to the treatments . The real source of her suffering was one of my colleagues: Lyall. We handed her over to him when he came to us requesting a specimen from Project Lycan. As she had been the most successful subject at the time naturally Sierra was chosen."_ the laughter grew in volume as everyone stared at the golden Jackal. _"Such a shame, such a shame. I would have loved to continue monitoring her progress for a while longer. Alas we cannot always have what we want can we? And no-one questions Lyall; he is the Mistress' favourite and that gives him authority over all of Dorchadas. So seek him out for your vengeance. But do not think to defeat him or the other two with any sort of ease."_ the lips pulled back again, this time representing a manic smile. _"Compared to them I am nothing more than a mere pawn to be disposed of at will."_

"I've heard enough!" Marluxia called out. "Finish him off now so we don't have to endure his ramblings!"

The others nodded while Mairsille screeched frantically in protest, once again attempting to free herself. With one hand Xigbar summoned a gun and aimed it t Kyndeyrn. "If you won't kill him Lexaeus then I will. Remember why he has to die!" the Freeshooter snapped, ready to pull the trigger should it come down to him to finish the bastard off. Lexaeus looked over at him, gave a curt nod and swiftly twisted Kyndeyrn's head, breaking his neck. Letting the body slump to the floor.

Mairsille reverted back to human form, breaking away from Xigbar, stumbling over to the Jackal's corpse. Hood falling away to reveal her tear-stained face. Hands tangled in the yellow-brown fur. "You bastards...!" she forced the words past the lump choking her throat. "You will all rot in hell for this!" she screamed.

"Perhaps. However we have been heading that way for years already. Now tell us about the spell on this container. Now that your master is gone are there any more pre-requistes to complete in order to be able to open it?" Xaldin replied calmly, meeting her eyes with his own. He would use intimidation if he needed to in order to get this over with.

She scowled up at the Whirlwind Lancer as he spoke. "Take my life as well. You were going to anyway were you not? So end my existence and be done with it!" Mairsille snapped, sandy hair falling into her face, as she practically lay on the floor next to the dead body. Fingers still curled desperately into Kyndeyrn's fur as she gazed hatefully arond at all twelve Nobodies.

There was a shot and Mairsille's body flopped over that of the Jackal. "Gladly." Xigbar said, dismissing his weapon before turning to Xaldin. Lexaeus rejoined the group and they all positioned themselves into a circle. All twelve pairs of eyes then turned to look at the youngest of them all: Zexion. "All right, Squirt! Open her up." he said with a broad grin speading across his features. "As for the rest of you brace yourselves; we don't know what'll happen when he opens that thing!" he added cheerfully.

Zexion gave a nod and slowly, carefully, prised open the lid of the wooden container.

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A/N: Here you go, hope you enjoy the chapter and that my little battle scene was satisfactory. Yet another relatively quick update for me, hopefully it continues. Anyway, not to sound like I'm nagging, but please check out the poll before it closes because right now there's no way I can choose between the airings (as fun as it might sound I'd rather not have three Lexaeus pairings in the one story lol). Thanks again to disneytiger who acts as my BETA.

Big love to all of ya, Gael.


	21. Chapter 21

At first nothing happened, all of them just stood there looking at the wooden box waiting for something to happen. Holding their respective breaths in anticipation, never taking their eyes away from it. This was the moment they had all been waiting for, for so long; the moment in which their hearts would return to their rightful places. To the empty cavities within their chests. Their bodies tense and apprehensive, none really knowing what to expect.

Then a bright glow appeared from within the container accompanied by a low hum. Twelve crystalline heart-shaped objects floated serenely up into the air, hovering ten foot above them. Everyone gazing at them in awe.

Several moments passed and the humming grew in volume, until without warning the hearts shot down towards their owners, leaving a trail of light behind them. As the crystalline objects entered the Organization's bodies they jerked. Standing rigid with eyes wide and mouths open. The humming ceased and the light faded, leaving the gathered twelve in silence.

And then the screaming started.

Terrible pain-ridden howls and shrieks and roars. Several of them fell to the floor clutching at their chests - faces contorted in agony. Xaldin collapsed to his knees, one hand gripping his head and the other his chest, releasing loud horrifying bellows through his mouth. Saїx remained on his feet, staggering and slamming his body into the walls and Kyndeyrn's desk. Yelling for forgiveness and a chance to repent for all the things he had done. Nearly everyone was now on the floor thrashing, writhing and spasming. Tears began to leak from their eyes for the first time in so many long years. Crying out the names of people they had once known: friends, family, lovers.

Finally both Lexaeus and Saїx, the only two still standing, fell amongst their comrades. Writhing and screaming their throats raw, memories flashing before their eyes. People they had killed, hearts they had stolen. worlds they had destroyed, lives they had ruined. Accompanied by floods and torrents of emotions so jumbled and mixed up that they were impossible to tell apart.

Just as suddenly as it had all begun they stopped screaming, lying there on the floor in exhaustion. Panting and gasping to get air back into their lungs in order to be able to breathe again before struggling back to their feet, using the walls and each other for support.

"It worked..." Vexen whispered hoarsely. "Simple unbelievable... when the hearts made contact with our memories they must have attempted to compensate for the emotions we should have been feeling over the years in accordance to our former personalities. The emotions we were unable to feel due to the lack of the appropriate vessel."

"And because it all happened so fast the result was an overload in the brain which tried to counteract it in some way. The side effect of which being excruciating pain. Correct?" Xemnas added, seeking the others' opinions on his theory. There was a murmur of agreement from those who could still use their given voices.

Marluxia had a hand over his newly regained heart, as if making sure that it was there by checking if he could feel it beating. None of them could really believe this was anything more than a cruel dream. It was far too good to be true, and yet this felt so much more real than any dream could have. The thumping in their chests, the former rush of emotion, pain and memories. No that was all far more vivid than anything any of them were capable of dreaming. They had finally done it. These twelve people, so different in nature had managed to reach their shared goal. No longer could anyone ever call them 'Nobody'.

When the realisation that this wasn't a dream finally hit them it was like Axel had set off a load of fireworks. Xigbar whooped and slapped the backs of his old friends, laughing loudly and with unrestrained glee. Marluxia and Larxene embraced each other tightly. Axel too was laughing, going around and slapping everyone on the back, Demyx joining in with him after the first two. Lexaeus and Zexion stood there smiling contentedly and even a little fondly around at their companions. After the slapping of shoulders Xigbar joined with the Flurry of Dancing Flames and the Melodious Nocturne. Xaldin watched the whole thing in amusement, shaking his head. Xigbar hadn't changed one bit. Luxord stood beside him, smiling before slinging an arm around the Whirlwind Lancer's shoulders (as far as he could anyway). Saїx seemed just a little bit awkward but he managed to smile and return any affectionate gestures thrown his way. Xemnas stayed fairly close to the Luna Diviner as a kind of habit, he was used to Saїx always being around him so this was comfortable for him. And then there was Vexen who went to join his old friends, Zexion and Lexaeus who welcomed him whole-heartedly. It was a great thing to be able to do so again. And Lexaeus placed an arm around the both of them, pulling them close in an embrace.

Not something that Vexen was really comfortable with but now they knew for a fact that he was back. In fact it was a wonder that he hadn't done so sooner, Aeleus had been an affectionate man so it only seemed natural that this part of him should return with his heart.

Once the celebrating ended all twelve of them gathered around again. Dorchadas was still out there, numbers cut slightly but still dangerous, so they could not afford to rejoice for too long. Not until this threat was dealt with and as such there were things that they needed to discuss. Xaldin opened his mouth and spoke first after a few moments of silence. "Now that our original cause has been complete there is no real reason for all twelve of us to stick together any longer. After all with hearts we no longer form the Organization. So I ask you all this now: will you stay for one last battle? Or would you rather go our separate ways to meet again if destiny allows?"

"What a downer!" Axel laughed, "Trust you to be the one who kills the mood. But hey, I guess I can put up with all of you long enough to get rid of these punks." he added with a smirk.

"You may count us in as well." Lexaeus said, indicating himself, Zexion and Demyx. The three of them had been travelling together for a while now and with their hearts back the sentimental side of that was kicking in. They weren't quite ready to split up just yet. "After all, this is what we've been journeying for."

"Us as well." Marluxia cut in. "Larxene and I are not yet willing to let go of our grudges towards these people. And as such we will gladly take a part in destroying them."

"Count me and the Brit in too." Xigbar drawled, grinning broadly again. "We wouldn't wanna miss the party now would we?"

"Don't think that we will let you all get into this mess without us." Vexen snorted, speaking for the last three. "After all, who knows what kind of trouble you idiots might get into without me to keep you in line." When Axel burst out laughing at that he glared over at the Flurry of Dancing Flames. "What?!"

"Keep us in line? If you hadn't noticed only one person here will be doing that and he most definitely ain't you." the pyro replied, smirking as he jerked his thumb in Lexaeus' direction. "But hey you're welcome to join us, the more the merrier!" he added, throwing his arms up into the air with a laugh.

Vexen snorted again but didn't push the matter, they all knew that Axel was right. And besides Lexaeus was the most trustworthy one there apart from the Melodious Nocturne, and as such he was the one that they were willing to follow. Should anyone else attempt to take on the role of leadership it would only result in quarrelling which they had no time for.

"Now, we head for Hollow Bastion. There we'll find a way to lure Dorchadas to our location." Zexion cut in. "We can chat all we please later but right now there are things that need to be done." Everyone gave a curt nod in response lifting up their hands to open up entrances into the dark corridors. The swirling shadows engulfed each and every one as they strode purposefully inside, one after the other. Portals shutting down once their summoners were safely inside. All twelve of them ready for the battle which was to come.

* * *

A/N: Okay here we are with the new chapter for Heroes' Melody. Not too much individual things going on in this chapter more like describing their overall experience with this situation. It took me a while to figure out just how I wanted to do this. I knew from the beginning of the story that I wanted the pain to be there, but originally I was also going to have some of them (the one's who'd done the most 'evil' during their time as Nobodies) die from it. Those would have been including Marluxia and Xemnas at the least. As you can see I decided against that, being the forgiving and generous person that I am, in order to give them one last chance at redemption. In the form of fighting this great threat to the worlds.

So yeah I'm pretty chuffed with what I've done for this chapter and I hope you all have enjoyed it. And because the poll is now closed It looks like I'll need to put up another one to get the final choices. This time around you will all only receive one vote so that I can get an accurate depiction of what you all want. And please remember that these pairings are boyxboy (even the OC ones). Also I will only be choosing the two with the highest number of votes. As always your reviews, of any kind, are extremely welcome.

And thank you all for bearing with me all this time, much love from Gael.


	22. Chapter 22

Hollow Bastion was quiet when they arrived. Not much seemed to have changed since Lexaeus and Demyx's last visit which was comforting, at least it meant that the town hadn't been completely overrun in their absence and that their new allies would have made it here in one piece. They couldn't afford to lose any man-power not against Dorchadas.

Light, rushed footsteps were coming in their direction. Accompanied by slightly heavy breathing. "HEY!" The Melodious Nocturne and the Silent Hero turned their head towards the sound of the familiar voice. "Stay _right_ there!! I been lookin' for you two _everywhere_." Katch snapped, glaring at them and taking no notice of the rest of the Organization. "Ya gotta come with me, to Leon's, everyone's waitin' on ya." he said, coming to a halt right in front of Lexaeus, straining his neck upwards to see his face.

Larxene's lips twitched, pulling into a smirk. "You two know him?" Katch's head twisted to look at her, a grin replacing his glare.

"You bet, gorgeous!" the ring in his pointed ear jingled slightly as he moved his head up and down in a nod. "Now c'mon! We don't got a lotta time to hang around and chat!" he urged them impatiently. Lexaeus nodded slightly and gestured to the others to say that they would follow Katch. The young dark-skinned boy grinned broadly and rushed off ahead of them.

It only took about five minutes to get to Leon's base, it was in the same place as it had been last time. The kids Lexaeus and Demyx had met the last time they had been in Hollow Bastion were all there as well as the adults. Sora and Riku were there too, Sora conversing with Leon about... something. It was kind of hard to make out what it was they were talking about because of the background chatter that was going on just before the former Nobodies arrived. Gav looked up and gave a slight nod in Lexaeus' direction, ignoring Katch when he fixed himself to her side like always making puppy dog eyes up at her. Kenna and Bane just didn't acknowledge their presence at all. Bane leaning against the wall with Kenna sitting on a table next to him.

"It took you long enough." Riku stated.

Axel shrugged, smirking lazily. "What can I say? Things just kind of flashed before our eyes and we lost track of time." Riku rolled his eyes, unaware that what Axel was saying happened to be completely true.

"Well now that you're here I guess we can finally get down to business." Leon said, stepping towards them. Face calm and passive as usual. Lexaeus nodded and everyone was led into the next room where they sat around a large table. The Organization at one side, the keybearers and residents of Hollow Bastion on the other. "The others have filled us in on what they know about what happened." Leon started breaking the slightly tense silence which included a fair amount of glaring from Cid and Cloud in the direction of the Organization who still wore their uniform. "All civilians have been evacuated to a safe place until this whole thing is over with. Bane and the others are here because despite their young age they are capable fighters and from what Sora tells me you'll need every pair of hands you can get. This I don't have a problem with, but I need to know what your plan is and what exactly happened between you sending Sora and Riku here and your arrival."

"I believe I'll begin with your second inquiry." Vexen spoke up. "In simple terms of course, so that everyone will understand." he added with a sneer, earning a few indignant glares from the teenagers in particular. Kenna was about to reach for her sword only to find Bane's hand catching her wrist before it left the table, she looked up at him and he shook his head. With a scowl Kenna sat back and listened. "We laid in wait for the man called Kyndeyrn to return to his base, Lexaeus here managed to destroy him. Kyndeyrn's second in command was then shot down by Xigbar. Now as some of you here may know from previous encounters that we of the Organization were not quite complete, there was an essential piece missing. In Kyndeyrn's office, after their defeat, we were able to regain what we had lost. In short now we have hearts beating within our chests once more."

A slight giggling came from Katch who muttered something under his breath, earning a slap to the back of the head from Gav. He whined pathetically but otherwise kept quiet after that. "I thought something was different about you guys." Sora noted. "Your eyes aren't dead anymore." Demyx's face fell the slightest bit, reminded of the family who had taken care of him while he had been seperated from Lexaeus and Zexion. Taj had said something like that when they parted ways.

"Yes. And we hope to redeem ourselves and earn them by destroying this threat. These Dorchadas." the Luna Diviner stated matter-of-factly. "It is the very least we can do." the others nodded in agreement, although some a little bit more carefree about it and not particularly bothered. They were still too distracted by how it felt to get their hearts back.

Zexion cleared his throat and things quieted down, allowing him to speak. "As for our plan it is fairly simple so you shouldn't have too much trouble. After all we had to account for all our members so there is nothing too specific we have to follow. Basically we break off into teams, where each of our specific traits and specialities will compliment the others fighting styles. For the most part we will be facing off against these Higher Ups. From what we have discovered they are the strongest and by far the most dangerous - particularly the one named Lyall - as such we shall have the others holding off the grunts. As soon as their leaders are down the soldiers should break ranks and become far easier to pick off. What do you say?"

"It's as good a plan as any." Leon admitted after a pause as he let the information sink in. "But for each group I want at least one committe member or keyblade wielder to keep an eye on you. To make sure that you keep your word."

Xemnas nodded once. "Agreed. In fact, our pasts considered, it is a very reasonable precaution." No-one voiced any complaints although Axel rolled his eyes slightly, probably not looking forward to seeing who was going to be on his team. Lexaeus couldn't blame him though, many members of the Organization had reasons to kill him and he could only assume that others did as well. Even if that reason was only the fact that Axel had once been a Nobody.

Another hour of discussion passed and the teams were agreed upon, in some cases reluctantly. Xigbar and Xaldin were two of the oldest Nobodies and worked well together so it was inevitable that they would be paired together. Along with them were Zexion and Larxene, the committee had nominated Leon to work along with them as would Sora. The second group, it was decided, would consist of Axel, Marluxia, Lexaeus, Luxord and Cid. Meaning that Riku and Cloud were left to work with Demyx, Xemnas, Saїx and Vexen. There were some misgivings about the way they had been grouped together although overall it was agreed that these were the best choices in order to avoid too much in-fighting. They all knew this new-found sense of camaraderie was a temporary thing at the most. There was too much history between the Nobodies for things to be any other way. Hopefully the way the teams were set out would prevent too much from going wrong and getting in the way of their mission. Jeapordising everything.

"Aerith will stay behind to look after things here and tend to any wounded during the battle, Merlin should stay back as well to asist her as well as cast spells to support us whenever he gets the chance." Leon concluded. "As for you four." he added, turning to face the teenagers. "Kenna, Gav and Bane will provide field support while Katch stays here to help Aerith with the wounded." Katch opened his mouth to protest but all that escaped his mouth was a reluctant grunt of agreement when Gav glared at him. "Good." he turned to face the Nobodies again. "Any idea how long before Dorchadas arrives here?"

"We have probably three hours at the very most." Vexen stated simply. "Somehow I doubt it would take them long to discover Kyndeyrn's and Mairsille's corpses. And once they do they will respond to our challenge swiftly. Hollow Bastion will likely be the first place they'll look so we shouldn't have to wait too long for their inevitable arrival."

Leon nodded and got to his feet. "All right you heard him. Use what little time we have to get yourselves ready. I'll inform the others."

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A/N: Okay I am so so sorry for the wait but here's the next chapter. too happy with this one and will probably edit it later on but I honestly don't want you guys to wait any longer for it. Thank you and I promise that the real action will kick in next chapter or so.


	23. Chapter 23

_A low feral snarl escaped the large man's throat as he kicked at his former comrade's corpse. "Useless little bastard!" he growled at the lifeless form of the jackal. He raised his foot, ready to slam it down against the cold dead body, only for the second largest person present to catch hold of it from where he was crouching on the floor. Again he snarled, baring sharp intimidating teeth at the younger man. _

_"Calm yourself, cousin Cahir." the crouching one crooned soothingly. "He served his purpose well enough and now, thanks to his incompetence, you and I can have our fun can we not?" he questioned, giving his larger cousin a lopsided smile as he stood up straight. "We have gone years holding ourselves back on orders from Lyall and our mistress, now we no longer have to. Cousin, we can unleash ourselves this time." A slender fingered hand settled upon Cahir's shoulder. "Thanks to Kyndeyrn and his little pet we are free to enjoy our time in the heat of battle - just as we were always meant to. Leave his punishment to Lyall, yes?"_

_A slow grin spread across Cahir's face as he placed a hand on his younger cousin's shoulder. "Yes, Cahal, we shall. Come, Lyall is waiting for us." the two men laughed and shoved each other playfully as they raced back outside of the compound. This world was desolate and silent now apart from the whoops of unrestrained glee ripping from the throats of the two cousins._

_Their eyes gleamed with malevolent joy as they met with another man garbed in the same red and black hooded monk robes as them. He had less armour though, just one elbow length gauntlet upon his right arm compared to their mirroring sets of shoulder plating and arm guards. "What did you find?" his voice was low and growling yet at the same time completely calm and indifferent. As if he already knew the answer and was only asking them for the sake of indulging them and conforming to procedure._

_Cahal laughed again. "Just like we thought, Kyndeyrn's gone. Gone gone away, far away from us!" the laughter increased, sounding practically maniacal. "No sign of his followers until we reached the basements - all dead and lying in their blood." the cousins were grinning in anticipation, waiting for the orders they had waited years to hear from this man's mouth. Watching him intently, tongues wetting their lips and eyes shining as their fingers twitched. Neither of them were particularly patient beings, especially now when they knew they were finally going to get what they wanted and all they needed to get on with it were those words signifying the permission they required to finally let loose. To shake off the shackles of their self-restraint._

_"Then go," a serpent coiled itself loosely around his neck. "Aislin tells me your opponents are in Radiant Garden, I will meet you both there. Do not fail Dorchadas as Kyndeyrn and Mairsille did." the cousins bowed their heads and were simultaneously engulfed in shadow, leaving behind no trace of their presence as it dissipated._

_

* * *

_

Back in Hollow Bastion things were tense. The teams were gathered together in order to figure out some vague strategies they could use for the upcoming battle. Hoping to make use of everyone's individual skills and fighting styles, although with all the personality clashes it wasn't going particularly easily for the most part. That and the fact that all the former Nobodies were still getting used to having emotions again and as such were having to rapidly adjust themselves in order to keep said emotions in some vague semblance of control lest they get out of hand and cost their side dearly in the battle.

No one could properly rest up or concentrate on what they were doing, not when they knew that Dorchadas could turn up at any minute. Some of the younger ones were itching for the fight to begin, not comfortable with sitting around doing nothing. Eventually the groups had given up on actually getting anything done, trying for any longer would only have resulted in physical violence and that would only have jeapordised their situation further.

So now the Organization were gathered together at the opposite side of the room from the keybearers and the restoration committee. Just talking, getting themselves relaxed in an attempt to relieve the tension and even anticipation which they were feeling in regards to the upcoming battle.

Xigbar was drumming his fingers against one of his guns, a look of irritation on his face. "Damn it... where the hell are they?" he groaned, voicing the thoughts of everyone around him. The atmosphere surrounding them was getting to everyone, people were fidgeting and twitching. Ready to leap up at the first sign of action. "I don't like this... feel's like they're toying with us or some other crap like that." the Freeshooter added with a low growl. Like most of the others in the Organization Xigbar hated to be toyed with, although that had never stopped any of them toying with others. Having no heart tended to turn a person into a bit of a hypocrit if you allowed it to. Xigbar was a prime example of that. Always toying with people, trying to get a rise out of them even though whenever Axel had tried doing the same thing to him the Flurry of the Dancing Flames normally ended up with a bullet through the shoulder. But in hindsight Lexaeus supposed that Axel may have deserved it, talking about things he had no business talking about.

The apprentices of Ansem the Wise hadn't devoted their lives completely to the advancement of their research, although one could be forgiven for thinking that Even had. They'd had social lives, friendships and families. In Braig's case he had been happily married with three children: Logan, Iris and Natalie. Axel had found out about this one night when Xigbar had decided that he actually wanted company in Port Royal drinking himself into a stupor.

Axel had proceeded to taunt Xigbar for months about it and eventually the constant reminders of what he had lost had driven the Freeshooter from his carefree casual demeanor to feral violence. Luckily for Axel Xaldin had been there to knock Xigbar out before any real damage could be done. Lexaeus was sure that Xaldin had let Xigbar get that one shot in out of a shadow of compassion for his oldest and best friend. But after that Axel had left the subject drop, figuring out that it would be to his advantage not to be assassinated by the Organization's number II or by the aforementioned gunman's large and very violent friend.

"Either that or they're coming up with a strategy like any sensible opponent would do." Zexion corrected boredly as he flipped through his lexicon, seeing whether there was anything that could be of use to them within its ancient pages.

Xigbar just glared over at the Cloaked Scemer, more of a habitual reaction than actual irritation. He was so used to Zexion being a smartass that it never really bothered him anymore.

Suddenly the youngest of the Organization raised his head, nostrils twitching as they inhaled some scent in particular which had caught his attention. Everyone was looking at him curiously, waiting for some kind of explanation regarding this abrubt behaviour from the young man with the slate grey hair. "Dorchadas." he said simply, rising to his feet. Almost right after he said that shrieks of fear reached their ears from outside and everyone scrambled to their feet, grabbing their weapons and racing out into the open. Apparently their choices of guards hadn't been as well thought out as they should have been.

Loud unrestrained fits of laughter came from the two robed figures standing thirty metres or so from the entrance to the building they all filed out of. Standing behind the robed strangers were a vast army of similarly clad warriors as well as many already in animal form. "We really must thank you all." crooned the shorter, slighter one. "Musn't we, cousin?" he faced the one next to him briefly before turning back to the Organization. "Thanks to Kyndeyrn's death we don't have to hold back on you!" he threw back the hood of his robe revealing that he couldn't have been long out of his teens if he was older than nineteen at all. Shoulder length black hair pulled into a ponytail with strands hanging in front of either side of his face. His eyes were a familiar icy blue grey colour.

He sniggered gleefully, revealing sharp fangs instead of canine teeth. "Please don't disappoint us... we've been waiting so so so long for this time. It would be such a shame for our excitement to amount to nothing." the larger man lowered his own hood with a nod. He looked similar in appearance to the slighter one as well as around the same age. His black hair was cut so that it was barely a centimetre long and his facial features were stronger and fiercer than the other's slightly thinner visage. "Cahir would be so very upset if you don't live up to our expectations." Cahir held a hand up, eyes never leaving the former Nobodies as his tongue flicked out over his lips, and his cousin stopped talking.

"Enough with the chat Cahal... we're here for battle not banter." he growled. This one's voice was far deeper and much more feral than his cousin's. Cahal only smirked broadly, holding back a snigger and watching them almost hungrily. Cahir then let out a loud animalistic roar. "Don't die on me before I have a chance to make you suffer!" he snarled out in warning before charging forwards Xaldin, eyes gleaming with a feral bloodlust.

Cahal let out a whoop of glee and yelled something in another language which earned cheers from the lackeys behind him.

The next moments passed in a hazy blur until the forces clashed, body against body and weapon against weapon. Yells and clangs rang in the air. Half of the Organization's groups against each of the two leaders of this Dorchadas army while Hollow Bastion residents and off worlders alike fought against the grunts. Above everything else Cahal's cackling could be heard as he effortlessly swerved out of the way of several of Larxene's kunai and bit into Zexion's shoulder.

Meanwhile Cahir was making no attempts to avoid or counter any attacks thrown his way, focussing blindly on pumelling Cid into the ground. It hadn't taken him long to get hold of the blond pilot, especially after he had thrown Saїx out of his way and into Demyx. There was too much commotion and confusion around them for anyone to try getting any sort of plan of action together. The most anyone could do was attack Cahir in the hopes that he might forget about Cid and go for someone else instead. It was a vain, shallow hope and they knew it but it was the best they had at this point in time. This guy was savage and relentless with an insatiable hunger for bloodshed, they could see it smouldering deep within those eyes of his whenever they were unfortunate enough to meet them.

Slowly the sheer weight of the situation was beginning to dawn upon each and every one of them. They hadn't anticipated just how weak Kyndeyrn actually was when compared with his fellow Higher Ups. They hadn't expected them to be so young and blood happy. Maybe... they weren't ready for this. Even Xemnas felt dread settle in his gut at the realisation. Maybe they really wouldn't survive this.

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A/N: Okay a bit of a gloomy note to end on, maybe the end was slightly rushed as well. However I am pretty pleased with how quickly I managed to get this done as well as the overall chapter in general. I have to say that these two are actually my favorite Higher Ups as well as the first ones I came up with. Both of their names actually mean battle ruler which I think is pretty appropriate for those two.

Also the poll is still up for anyone who wants to vote (currently it looks like you all want two demyx pairings however if all goes to plan then the story won't need that extra tidbit of drama, trust me on this).

Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed it. As always all forms of reviews are most welcome.

On a completely unrelated note I just wanted to share with my dear readers that I came first place in a short story writing competition, fifty pounds worth of book tokens will be mine on Friday. So I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations for what I could buy? Because honestly I may just end up getting marvel comic books for the sheer fact that I can't think of anything, not that that's a bad thing I just want to keep my options wide open for now.

Also remember that I'm open for requests if you have any. Now I'm going to stop wasting your time with useless crap and let you all get back to your lives.

xxxx Gael


	24. Chapter 24

No one knew just how long the battle in the streets of Hollow Bastion had already waged but the tide of it had yet to change. Many of the Dorchadas grunts had fallen but so had a substantial number of their former prisoners who had aligned themselves with the former Organization XIII. In fact the situation was more difficult now because everyone who couldn't fly was tripping over the corpses of friend and foe alike.

To make matters worse neither Cahir nor Cahal seemed to be slowing down or tiring in the slightest.

In an attempt to level the playing field the four groups had combined to attack both of them at once – splitting their forces clearly hadn't been working so hopefully this would at least help matters. More and more it was becoming clear that they had gravely underestimated Kyndeyrn's snide warning. These were no ordinary people by any means, both of the cousins were thriving on this. Drinking in the scents of death and bloodshed with unrestrained mirth. Any attacks landed on them were shrugged off as if they were nothing more than insect bites.

After managing to beat Cid into unconsciousness Cahir had abandoned his robes, apparently deciding that they inhibited his movements too much. Even though he didn't quite match the height of either Lexaeus or Xaldin he definitely rivalled both men in terms of muscle. Essentially a human tank, he was completely solid and even from a distance Cahir looked almost immovable. Clearly he was the brute strength of the Higher Ups.

Cahal however was obviously leaner and built more for speed than brute force (although he had plenty of that to spare as well). He was also smarter than his cousin or at least more sadistic. While Cahir pummelled his victims relentlessly with icy eyes blazing with feral bloodlust Cahal taunted and toyed with them, crooning and grinning broadly as he did so. Around five people (including Yuffie and Tifa) had already been carted off for medical attention thanks to him.

Currently he was just standing there, body trembling due to the force with which he was laughing. His hands and lips were stained red with blood and he seemed to love it, with the way he brought one of his bloodied appendages to his nose and inhaled the stench greedily, almost as if it were a drug.

Demyx honestly wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, especially considering the euphoric look which spread over his features every time the scent drifted into his nostrils.

Just who were these people? No... the cousins couldn't be called people they were just animals. Impulsive bloodthirsty animals.

A familiar enraged roar erupted from the throat of the Luna Diviner whose amber eyes were glazed over with seething hatred. Demyx's head snapped up just in time to see him charge Cahir head on. There wasn't time for anyone to call out or stop him before he was being held effortlessly aloft by his throat. Cahir bared his fanged teeth in an angry snarl, eyes gleaming with delight as Saïx clawed at the heavily muscled arm to make him let go.

The tank sought out Lexaeus' gaze and smirked once they made eye contact, making a show of tightening his grip around the former number VII's neck before opening his mouth "You should learn to keep your pet on a tighter leash." he taunted, flinging the Luna Diviner casually away as if he were nothing more than a ragdoll. Xemnas' eyes widened and he called out in worry over his former second in command.

If not for a quick manoeuvre from Xaldin Saïx may have ended up with his spine broken against the wall of the building he had milliseconds before been hurtling towards.

"Come on little ones!" Cahir grinned maniacally. "You're holding out on me I can feel it! What will it take to make you _fight with me_?!?!" he bellowed, the rage in his rumbling voice shaking the pebbles on the ground. The gleam in his eyes no longer one of glee but of unrestrained blood-boiling irascibleness. Why wouldn't they fight him?! Why did they continue to hold back while he and Cahal were finally able to live as they were born to?! Battle was their element, their calling, their destiny.

When no reply came he snarled and grabbed one of his opponents' allies by the throat, slamming them harshly against a wall. He was nowhere near as patient as his cousin, and Cahal wasn't the most patient of people either. The red haze which always hung over his vision during battle seemed to darken. Cahir finally had the permission he had waited so many long years for, and he wasn't going to let these people spoil it for him.

They would fight no matter what he had to do in order to make them. If he had to kill one of their own before getting what he wanted then that is exactly what he would do. He already knew which one he would tear limb from limb to force their hands.

"I'll squeeze the life from his throat." his rumble lowered in volume so that it was more like a hissed promise. "And I'll enjoy every fantastic squirming second." his tongue flicked out several times, wetting his lips as his eyes remained fixed upon the members of Organization XIII. Daring them to act and stop him. They had gathered together and were muttering anxiously. They thought he was bluffing but were they willing to take the chance? Cahir had no problem ending someone's life, they had seen that already.

He tightened his grip significantly, enough that the unfortunate in his grasp gasped desperately trying to prise himself free. But the limb of solid muscle wouldn't even budge the tiniest bit. They weren't acting quickly enough but Cahir was feeling generous, giving them extra chances to save the wretched life which lay in his hands. Or maybe he was just enjoying watching them squirm.

Xigbar's single visible eye narrowed and his lip curled into a snarl. There was a loud noise and Cahir hissed in pain, left shoulder jerking backwards. "Wrong place to shoot!" the Higher Up ground out, dropping his previous victim before charging at Xigbar. Even after that show they'd held back! Aiming for his shoulder instead of his heart or his head! Just how far would he need to push these bastards?!

"Good work, Braig." Xaldin smiled at his friend before bellowing the order for the former Nobodies to retreat from their position. They had succeeded in enraging the more careless of the two and now all they had to do was fall back to the valleys. It was them the Dorchadas had the problem with, maybe this way they could minimalise the casualties. Lexaeus knew it was a completely barren hope but it was the best plan that they had. Upon Xaldin's command all twelve of them turned and ran, although Xigbar had utilised his anti-gravitational powers and was keeping Cahir from getting too close with his bullets. This was merely a precaution for tha sake of the slower among them, Cahir wasn't particularly expeditious.

Cahal was another matter, however he seemed content enough to run alongside his cousin rather than attempt to catch up to them on his own. He was the one they needed to keep an eye on the most right now, the slender male had yet to show them just what he was actually capable of.

Once they reached the crystal valley the former Nobodies stopped retreating, turning to face the entrance to the area as the ones who hadn't already done so summoned their weapons. "We'll need to be cautious. " Zexion warned. "My Lexicon has no information about Dorchadas or any individual members, so we have no idea just what they're capable of. We might not even have seen the full extent of Cahir's savagery yet so avoid all unnecessary risks."

"Tch." Axel merely smirked at him, waving a dismissive hand. "Do whatever you want, bookworm, these guys are no match for us." he chuckled after the cocky statement only to find a lance pressing against his adam's apple. The Whirlwind Lancer stood in front of him, eyes narrowed in a dangerous glare. The one each of the former Nobodies recognised all too well as the indication that Xaldin was close to castrating whoever the look was directed at. Even Axel had enough sense to shut his mouth once he saw the glare. After a few moments of silent tension Xaldin's lance retreated back to its owner and the Flurry of the Dancing Flames sighed in relief.

But Xaldin's glare didn't let up, in fact his feet led him forwards until there was barely half a metre between the two of them. "I would advise that you keep that tongue of yours in check, Axel. Any one of us has more than enough reason to kill both you, Marluxia and Xehanort where you stand... the only reason we do not is because you have a final chance to redeem yourselves in our eyes. Do not underestimate the fact that the second all of this is over we may just turn on the three of you and destroy you ourselves." he stated, voice calm and level but with an underlying note of danger. Axel didn't need to look around at the others to know that it was probably true so he merely gulped and nodded, letting out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

An amused baleful snigger echoed throughout the cavern causing them all to whip around. Cahal was crouched down on all fours, trembling with his sniggers. "Look at them, cousin. How oh how do they expect to destroy us when the second they're alone they start clawing at each others throats?" the sniggering elevated into high-pitched giggles. "Maybe we should put our friends out of their misery?" he inquired, licking his lips as he gazed up at his larger cousin who was merely gazing at the Organization with a hungry blood-thirsty grin.

Marluxia stepped forward boldly, scythe in hand. "I wouldn't underestimate us like that." he tutted, smirk tugging at his lips. "That very mistake has led legions to their deaths and I would so hate for the two of you to join them. I won't deny that we loathe each others' guts most of the time, however," he paused and the look on his face shifted to a scathing glare. "Nobody threatens my team-mates except me. Am I understood?"

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A/N: Here we go, another fairly quick update for you guys. And just so you know that bit at the end is how I invision the Organization to be most of the time. Ready to gut each other one moment but the second it's someone else threatening them then they band together. It's part of the very dysfunctional grouping that they built up during their time as Organization XIII. And the reason it's Marluxia doing this is because he was a bit frightened by Xaldin's previous threat as well as the fact that he does actually quite like his team-mates but in Castle Oblivion the others forced his hands (or so he believes anyway). It was going to be dear old Lex our beloved Silent Hero but that devious Graceful Assassin beat him to it.

I think I'm getting better with writing violent characters as well, just look at Cahir the guy's practically rabid most of the time. However next chapter will mainly be about dear little Cahal's abilites and if it comes to that then I may even reveal their animal forms, feel free to guess what they might be in the mean time as well by the way. Just to pass the time or whatever.

Anyway hope you enjoyed it and (I know I say this every chapter but it's become a habit so please deal with it) all forms of reviews are very welcome and are extremely appreciated.

See you all next chapter. Much love,

Gael xxx


	25. Chapter 25

_**A/N:**_ Okay first of all I want to make a very big apology for taking so long to update this story. I have no excuse to give other than for the longest time I ran completely out of motivation. But now I'm back and this time I hope to finish up Heroes' Melody in a way that's satisfactory to my readers and myself.

I don't pretend to hope my previous readers will come back after such a long time but I can say that I hope any new readers will enjoy this just as much as my old ones did. So without further adieu: enjoy :)

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Cahal grinned savagely, rubbing his hands together in unrestrained anticipation. "Is that so?" the smaller cousin's tongue ran over his lips as he crooned out the words. "Then dance with me! Show me that you can live up to your words!" he exclaimed, voice growing more high-pitched as he neared the end of his sentence. Marluxia barely had enough time to move his scythe in order to block Cahal's attack; the boy was fast ... there was no doubt about that. But he was also cocky, perhaps that would prove to be enough of a weakness for Marluxia to exploit and gain the upper hand in this.

He glared hatefully as the Dorchadas Higher Up cackled, actually prancing around him. Taunting Marluxia with his eyes and grating laugh. "Come on, come on. Come play with me, pretty dancer! I promise it'll be fun!"

Marluxia ground his teeth together, he hated that voice. He hated the way Cahal moved, the way he never seemed to run out of energy. After such a short amount of time Marluxia hated everything that this boy was and represented. He had no class, no sense of anything. He was just a mindless blood-thirsty little psychopath. Neither this wretch nor his absolute brute of a cousin deserved to live, and Marluxia intended to at least give it a damn good go to helping defeat them. With a cry he lashed out with his scythe, leaving a gash in Cahal's cheek. The young man's eyes widened and he summersaulted backwards, touching his cheek and looking at the blood on his finger. For a moment he just stood there, staring at it, and Marluxia thought he might have slipped into a daze.

Unfortunately that was too good to be true.

Marluxia watched as Cahal's shoulders trembled before an insane cackle erupted from his throat. His lips curled into a manic smile as he deeply inhaled the scent of his own blood, licking the finger for good measure. "Good boy." he crooned.

The Graceful Assassin snarled, feeling something inside him snap. He could handle a lot of things, but one thing Marluxia had never - in all his years of existing and not existing - been able to ignore was being patronised. Which he just knew was what Cahal was doing to him right now. The slighter cousin continued to cackle as he teasingly dodged each and every swipe the man made at him, ducking and jumping and side-stepping and twisting. It was all just a game to him, a game he'd been eager to play for a long time... and he wanted to make it last for as long as he could.

Marluxia was blind to everything else around him now. He wasn't aware of his comrades-in-arms desparately trying to hold their own against Cahir, or the difficulty brought about by the confined space the cavern presented. All he could see was Cahal, all he could think about was wiping that look off the little bastard's face!

Zexion had been attempting to keep an eye on both skirmishes, as he held back casting spells and sending in clones to help the majority subdue Cahir. The larger had been sub-consciously deemed the greatest risk out of the two cousins and as such Marluxia was being left on his own with Cahal. But his new-found emotions were getting the better of him, by the looks of things. He was too focused on the target and seemingly unable to accurately formulate enough of a strategy through which he could attack the smaller, and no less dangerous, cousin effectively. That was potentially quite a big problem, it was highly possible that they would need all of them in fighting condition should the final Higher Up show his face here.

Acting quickly he produced two more clones and called out for Larxene and Axel. "Help Marluxia!" normally he would have elaborated but the Schemer was now too occupied with helping with subduing Cahir. Larxene worked well with Marluxia, always had. Axel may be on the Graceful Assassin's bad side after Castle Oblivion but the man was quick and speed would be helpful against Cahal. Xigbar was also fast but unfortunately the majority of their forces needed to be concentrated on the larger cousin who was practically frothing at the mouth when he finally grabbed hold of Luxord, who had inadvertently strayed too close.

The Gambler of fate cried out in fear and pain when Cahir slammed him against the cavern wall by his neck. Luxord seemed to panic, his cards disappearing as he tried to claw at the vice around his throat. Evidently there were some down sides to getting their hearts back after all. Back in the Organization Luxord had never been one to succumb to such silly little things like panic.

Shouts of worry came from other members of the former Organization, the bellow from Xaldin probably the most noticable. Nothing from before could have prepared them for this - these two were inhuman to the point that it was intensely worrying. With another bellow the Whirlwind Lancer sent his lances towards Cahir, with so many of them it was hard to be accurate enough to hit the vitals. However he managed to startle Cahir into releasing Luxord. The heavily muscled young man howled as simultaneously the lances slashed four deep gashes in various places on his body.

Not even waiting to allow him to catch his breath, Xigbar hauled Luxord back and away from Cahir. As Saïx and Lexaeus leapt in with their weapons to try and take advantage of the situation and actually do some significant damage to the monster.

Cahal's persistant cackle echoed around the cavern as he dragged his claws across Axel's face. A feral, lopsided grin never leaving his face even when his opponents managed to hurt him. If anything that only seemed to encourage him on. His tongue swept over his lips so often that they never got a chance to actually dry. He never seemed to take any of it seriously, not even worrying in the slightest about his cousin's welfare at the other end of the cavern. Either he was that confident in his cousin's ability or he just didn't care in the slightest. Honestly nobody could begin to make an assumption in the matter.

With an almost lazy summersault Cahal landed expertly onto Larxene, knocking her to the floor and leaving him leaning over her casually from her stomach. His bloodied fingers settled over her face, trailing over her cheeks. He was too heavy for her to throw him off and she was too winded to even attempt to do so. She coughed violently and he forced one of the fingers onto her tongue. Forcing Larxene to taste her comrade's blood. When she visibly gagged he smirked in amusement. "What oh what could the matter be?" he pondered, resting the bloody digits on her throat gently. "Deary me... Cousin? I don't think this one likes her comrades very much..." Cahal tutted reprimandingly. " She can't even stand his blood ... how, how, how can she _stand_ to be around them." he went on, mournfully with a shake of his head.

"Get off her!" Marluxia roared, feeling his blood boiling at the sight before him. He raced forward without another thought, swinging his scythe with the intent to maim or kill. Cahal giggled in amusement as he leapt cleanly out of Marluxia's path, landing right in front of the Assassin. So close that Marluxia's nose wrinkled in disgust at the stench which radiated from Cahal's breath.

Yet again Cahal licked his lips. "Is the pretty one your mate?" His grin seemed to widen. "I bet she is, look at the way you're tensing up!" Cahal sniggered, ducking behind Marluxia to avoid a blow from the other's fist. "So unfriendly... are all of you so antisocial?" he asked, watching Axel helping Larxene to her feet out the corner of his eye. "It's all a game, you know. Relax... have some fun with us! It's not so long ago now that you would have been jumping to play with us like this... what a shame. Then again there's more fun for my cousin and I since none of you are hogging any." He was whispering now, taunting right into Marluxia's ear after having taken him into a chokehold when he'd started talking again. He was looking at Axel and Larxene pointedly as he held his ridiculously sharp nails against the Assassin's throat, sending out a silent dare to them.

There was no doubt that any wrong move from them and he would have ripped open Marluxia's throat with his own fingernails. However the chance never arrived. Everyone, including the cousins, froze as a loud animalistic roar ripped through the air. The source of the roar stood at the entrance of the cavern in the form of a monstrously large grizzly bear. Both Cahir and Cahal stood transfixed for a moment. Then the grin returned to Cahal's face, Cahir just stood trembling with intense anticipation. Wanting to act but clearly unsure of what action to take.

Sub-consciously the former Nobodies backed away from the formidable creature which had a murderous look in it's icy blue-grey eyes.

Cahal moved forward towards the bear, devoid of any fear whatsoever. "Are you here to play as well? We haven't played together in a long time, Uncle, you really should join us." Cahal crooned, settling a hand against the beast's forelimb. The bear remained motionless, not responding in the slightest. "Aw don't tell me you're bitter... aren't you happy for us, Uncle?" the smaller cousin smirked condescendingly. The absence of a collar evidently meant that the bear wasn't in a position of high enough respect to respond, despite supposedly being their uncle.

"Tch ... what's wrong with you? Ever since we got promoted we don't hear from you... now you just show up here." Cahir snarled, moving towards the bear agressively. "Get out! This isn't your game!" Cahir roared, becoming engulfed in shadows. When they disipated another bear, smaller than the grizzly and purely black in colour, stood in Cahir's place.

The smaller bear launched itself onto the grizzly, teeth latching onto its neck. Cahal shrieked in glee, clapping his hands together excitedly as he watched his cousin attempting to maul his uncle. He turned back to face the former Nobodies with a wide grin before changing as well. Seconds later a large, spotted hyena leapt onto the grizzly bear's back. The grizzly roared, rearing onto its back legs, turning as it tried to fend off the cousins. There was a long black stripe along the entirety of his spine. Demyx and Lexaeus shared a look as a single face flashed in both of their minds.

_Agro._

Snapped out of the daze from before Demyx immediately started strumming on his sitar, summoning his water clones. That seemed to be all that was needed for the others to throw themselves back into the fray.

The ensuing battle was intense and drawn-out. The minutes and hours seemed to melt together until no-one knew, save perhaps Luxord, how much time had actually passed. Even the cousins were tiring by the end of it. They had brought down Agro, though the former Organization stood in their way of dealing the finishing blow. Cahir was badly injured in the chest and two of his legs and while Cahal had avoided any major damage he was heavily bruised and aching. Then again Lexaeus, Demyx and the others hadn't escaped harm themselves. Everyone was breathing heavily and Xigbar's arms were actually trembling.

For the longest time nobody moved, caught in a silent stare-down. _"Come on then. If you're going to protect him then do it properly! Attack ... unless you're all too scared."_ Cahir snarled, sounding more feral than before. Cahal giggled, shoulders shaking with unrestrained mirth. But that was cut short when a loud bang echoed around the cavern, followed by a resounding thud.

Looking over, an agnoized indescribably sound ripped from Cahal's throat as he saw his cousin's body completely still. A very visible hole right between his eyes which was slowly starting to bleed out. He yowled and made a lunge for Xigbar, eyes flashing murderously only to be intercepted by Xemnas who slashed at Cahal's chest just as the hyena was struck by lightning and a Chakram left a gash in his side. Cahal shrieked in agony as he was thrown backwards by the force of it. He tried to get up only to be faced with one of Xaldin's lances.

_"I guess... this means you win." _Cahal murmured just before he was impaled by every lance in Xaldin's arsenal.

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**_A/N:_** I hope the ending didn't seem rushed, because that really was not my intention. At any rate, thank you for reading. I will try and keep my updates pretty regular from now on until I finish Heroes' Melody. To any of my old readers who came back to read this: thank you and I'm sorry to have disappeared for so long and I hope I haven't let you down.

I honestly can't decide if I'm completely happy with this chapter because there wasn't as much Lexaeus or Demyx, who were the main characters... but at any rate I've updated now and I hope that everyone who reads enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you again next chapter :)


	26. Chapter 26

**_A/N:_** And I'm managing to get going with this much easier than I expected. And for the most part it's thanks to 0o0-The-Melodious-Nocturne-0o0 and her words of encouragement. I have to admit I was scared about getting back into this story, but thanks to her I'm much more motivated to keep going with Heroes' Melody and I hope you all enjoy the results!

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When Xaldin turned back around Lexaeus, Demyx and Zexion were gathered around the male body which had replaced the large, wounded grizzly bear. He bore a small resemblence to the young Higher Ups - mainly in the eyes. The man was in a bad state and had taken a loose hold of Lexaeus' bicep as he tried to speak through long spluttering coughs.

"I'm sorry about my son and nephew..." his hoarse voice shook and he didn't seem capable of focusing in on any one face. "I'd hoped to be the one who took them down ... but they were much stronger than I expected. I see why they became Higher Ups so young, now..." Agro sighed, simply gazing upwards. "Can I ask you a favor, my friend?" he asked softly. There was absolutely no way Lexaeus could refuse - not after everything the man had done for them and seeing how broken down he looked now. "I'm in a lot of pain ... and I want to join my boys in death."

Demyx bit his lip and was about to protest, silenced quickly by a look from Zexion and by Agro continuing. "It was my job to take care of them. The least I can do after my failure is follow them into whatever afterlife they were taken to."

Back in Hollow Bastion things were tense and the air full of grief. A lot of people had lost their lives and almost as many had been seriously injured. The Restoration Committee were doing their best to ease things in town with the survivors of the day's events. Axel had been employed to burn the dead. No one knew how long they would be here and keeping the cadavers would not only damage moral but take up too much room which might be needed for the living.

The rest of the former Nobodies were gathered in the house they had been given as their living quarters for the duration of the battles with Dorchadas. It was quiet, everyone sitting in small groups. Marluxia was tending to Larxene's injuries, a grim expression on his face. Xemnas and Saïx sat a little bit away from the others, the former leader still sticking to his loyal second in command like glue. The Diviner hadn't protested as of yet. Especially seeing as he was probably the one person that Xemnas had let down the most. When Axel returned he kind of just hovered akwardly, near the main group but not too close either. It had apparently dawned on him he had no real allies here. Luxord sat in the centre with Xigbar, Xaldin and Vexen, attempting to ease the tension with card games and wit. The efforts were appreciated, even if in vain. Finally, not too far away from them sat Lexaeus with Demyx and Zexion in front of him, all facing each other but lost in their own thoughts.

Demyx's hands were curled into fists upon his lap, jaw tight and eyes downcast. He hadn't spoken a word since they'd ended Agro's life - it had clearly upset him deeply and that had Lexaeus worried. At the time there had been no words he could give (there still weren't) so he had simply grasped the Nocturne's shoulder reassuringly, trying to convey the message he couldn't find the words for.

Demyx had nodded, though whether he had understood or not Lexaeus couldn't tell. This was all too much ... it was too soon after they'd got their hearts back and they weren't emotionally ready for a situation like this.

They no longer knew how to restrain or harness their emotions and it was greatly hindering their performances on the battlefield. Even Xemnas had, for the most part, been reduced to a terrified child and he had clung to Saïx so diligently it was obvious their previous roles had been entirely reversed. It said a lot that Saïx allowed him to do so. After all he may have been the one that Xemnas had let down the most.

"Lexaeus." the Silent Hero looked at Zexion, roused from his internal musings. "There are still two more Dorchadas, likely on their way, that we need to dispatch in order to bring down their little organization. There's no telling how long before they arrive. I believe we should go over all of our options now, while we still have a chance to do so."

Before he could respond Demyx cut in. "I think it's pretty obvious. We fight them and bring them down." the Nocturne's voice was dripping with unexpected venom. "We tear them apart!" Everyone was looking over at them now, clearly surprised and curious by the huge change from the good-natured young man they had grown so used to. "I don't know about you ... but I won't let them hurt anyone else."

Lexaeus reached over, settling a hand on Demyx's shoulder. "They won't have the chance to do that." He promised sincerely. Why he'd done so Lexaeus wasn't sure he would ever know. After all with everything going on they just couldn't be sure that they would be enough to take down Dorchadas. Still the Nocturne smiled gratefully, patting the large hand with his own far smaller one.

He was glad to have Lexaeus here, since the beginning of this whole ordeal he had been the only constant and reliable factor throughout everything. In all honesty - if it hadn't been for the Silent Hero's presence Demyx wasn't sure he could have coped, he certainly wouldn't have made it this far anyway.

"As wonderfully touching as this moment is ..." Luxord's drawl brought them back down to Earth. "I believe that Zexion had a point - those two could easily have beaten us last time and logic would suggest that this 'Lyall' character will be even stronger. Not to mention whoever is pulling _his_ strings." the Gambler of Fate sighed, shuffling a deck of cards. "Lady Luck was on our side last time but there's no guarantee she will be again."

Those words struck a chord deep within them all - everything Luxord had said was all too true. They had all been thinking it, but no one had been willing to voice these thoughts until now.

"Tch. No point in talkin' like that." Xigbar's voice broke through the silence. "We've done good so far and, hell, those three" he indicated Lexaeus, Zexion and Demyx with a pointed finger. "beat back the odds so many times and managed the impossible." subconsciously everyone's hands hovered over the beating in their chests. A confident, feral grin spread across his scarred features. "We sure as hell can do the same thing, right?"

A chorus of agreement filled the room, along with a small scattering of applause for the Freeshooter's speech. "So how about we stop this moping around, huh? Goin' into battle expectin' defeat gets ya killed. And as we know from experience ... we ain't easy to get rid of, are we?" he stated, slinging an arm loosely around Xemnas' shoulder. "This goes double for you, Xehanort - time t' stop feelin' sorry for yourself y'hear me?" Xigbar looked at the man he had addressed, waiting for a response. Preferrably a positive one.

It took a while but when Xemnas did speak he kept it mercifully brief. "I believe you are right, Braig." he stood and looked around the room at his former subordinates. "Besides we stand a far better chance united than divided. That was one of our main downfalls... mine in particular." a small hesitant smile twitched at the man's lips. "And I must say it would be an honor to fight alongside all of you this time."

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**_A/N:_** I felt that everyone needed a break from all the action so here's a brief interval filled with some angst and a great deal of bonding, with the ties beginning to reform and Xemnas finally getting back into his stride. Though hopefully not too much, he might be making an effort now but he's still walking on thin ice!

This chapter is quite a bit shorter than most but it didn't need to be any longer than this because if I had gone on much longer it wouldn't have been the nice little action-less break I'd been going for. The next chapter should be a bit longer again, but hey it all depends on where I feel the chapter needs to end. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it, your opinions are always appreciated, even if they happen to be critical!

See you next time!

Gael


	27. Chapter 27

**_A/N:_** Here's Chapter 27 for you, I'm really pleased with how quick I'm churning out these chapters again lol. Please read and hopefully you'll enjoy it :)

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With tension considerably lessened between the former Nobodies the atmosphere within the house was far more relaxed. They were still worried, of course. Lyall could show up at any given moment, and they had to be ready when he did. That meant being well-rested and alert. Marluxia had finished seeing to Larxene's injuries and the Savage Nymph was on her feet, working her shoulders and various other muscles to loosen them up. She grinned when she was satisfied.

"You don't make a half-bad doctor, you know." Marluxia just waved off the compliment, casually with a confident smile. She giggled and sat back down next to him. Even back in the Organization their relationship had come easily, and after their reawakening it had been effortless to fall straight back into it. "Maybe you should take it up as a proffession once this is all over." the Savage Nymph added teasingly, throwing a smirk in the Assassin's direction. He had smirked back and the two fell into a light-hearted and playful banter, seemingly having blissfully forgotten the situation, for now.

Similar things went on amongst the rest of them, Demyx and Axel having paired off to chat about anything irrelevent that came to mind. Others elected to stay in the same company as before, sharing witty banter or taking part in slightly more intellectual conversations.

After a few hours Lexaeus had fallen deep into thought, a frown upon his strong features. Taking the hint that he should be left to his musings, Zexion had ventured over towards Vexen to engage in conversation with the Chilly Academic instead. It had been a long time since any of them had truly relaxed and it felt good to just temporarily forget everything in order to simply enjoy one another's company. However Lexaeus was suffering a small inner conflict.

The way things had ended for Agro bothered him deeply. The man had been of great help to them despite what must have been immense personal sacrifice. He had been a strong and humble man, as well as a true warrior. Lexaeus held great respect for him now, despite any earlier suspicions about his motives for helping them. It had hurt his newly-regained heart to end Agro's life like that and the guilt was now niggling away at him, chewing away at the back of his mind. His body had been burned along with all of the others, so there was nothing to bury; however Lexaeus knew he would not feel at peace about Agro's death unless he did something to commemorate the man and his part in everything. It just wouldn't be right to leave things as they were.

Looking up and over towards the Nocturne Lexaeus calmly called and motioned for Demyx to come and join him. He waited patiently as the young blond excused himself from Axel and made his way over with a questioning gaze. "What's up?" he asked, sitting down beside the far larger man.

"It's about Agro." as soon as the name left his lips he could see Demyx's expression sadden and his shoulders sag. "I was thinking ... we should leave a memorial, of sorts, where he fell." he felt another pang in his heart, it was the first time he had voiced anything about this and somehow doing so only rammed the truth of it much closer to home than he would have liked. Still he waited patiently, waiting for Demyx to answer his unspoken request.

Slowly the musician nodded, looking up at Lexaeus with a sad smile. "Yeah... I think he'd appreciate that."

After announcing their intentions, Lexaeus and Demyx had found themselves with a following from the others. Zexion had reasoned that considering the situation, with two significantly powerful Dorchadas likely to appear at any time it wasn't a good idea for anyone to be going out on their own. It was best to stay with the larger group. The sentiment had been appreciated, although there were definitely other reasons that Zexion hadn't brought up. Such things were far too ... _sappy_ for him to willingly voice. However the Nocturne and Hero had seemed to get the message all the same.

The entire affair ended up being incredibly sombre. Using his control over the Earth, Lexaeus had erected a small rocky mound near where Agro's body had lain in his final moments. At a request from Demyx, Xaldin had used his lances to carve words into the surface of the rock.

_Here lies Agro  
Loving Father and Uncle  
Loyal Friend and Protector_

_Rest in Peace  
Brave Bear.__  
_

They all stood in respectful silence for a while, Demyx and Lexaeus lowered their heads in remembrance. Eventually the Silent Hero settled a hand on Demyx's shoulder, signalling that it was time for them to leave for now. When their eyes metthe came to a silent understanding that they would come back again and offer their respects properly once everything with Dorchadas was over.

As they were all turning to leave a voice sounded around them. "Be still." the words were spoken softly and calmly however the acoustics amplified the sound and made it echo menacingly around them.

Almost instantly they found themselves blocked by invisible walls around all angles around them. Venemous green eyes peered over them as they pounded at the unseen barriers which prevented them moving away from the spot they were standing in. The Dorchadas was sitting on a large rock formation, hands folded calmly on his lap.

The shouts and threats and general ruckus the former Nobodies were creating seemed to fall on deaf ears. The grey-haired man showed no sign of having heard any of it - ignoring them completely in order to continue his observations. Snarling, Xigbar summoned one of his guns and was about to try and blow his way out of the invisible prison. When the man finally spoke again, it was calm and almost sounded like he was attempting to soothe the Freeshooter. "I would strongly advise against that course of action ... it's far more likely that you'll end up injuring yourself than actually shattering that barrier."

"Isn't your goal to destroy us?" Axel sneered cockily. "If so, why stop him?" he was answered with silence and a hard stare.

"Yes. However that is _not_ the purpose of my visit." he had a low, constantly growling voice. It was also smooth and deliberate. It was hard to imagine that anything unnecessary left those thin lips.

"Then would you be so kind as to enlighten us to your intentions?" Vexen inquired with genuine curiosity. "After all, since we received our hearts that is all your organization has seemed to aspire to. What could your game possibly be this time?"

Once again his eyes scanned over the trapped men and woman, all of whom had now stopped trying to break themselves free. "I haven't come with a game. I'm simply here to talk. I am not delusional, I know no agreements can be made between our two parties and would not demean any of us by trying to come to one. No ... I'm here to talk to one of you in particular." at this those hateful eyes settled upon Lexaeus. Everyone then looked towards the Silent Hero who simply stood, arms folded across his chest defiantly. Waiting for the man to continue. "I assume introductions aren't necessary - however my name is Lyall. I've heard a lot about you, Silent Hero."

"Likewise." Lexaeus responded stiffly. He didn't like this man already, his very presence was already causing unpleasent churning in his stomach.

With an almost painful lack of speed Lyall took his time striding over to Lexaeus. "While she was in my care, my Pup told me about you. You weren't hard to distinguish, after hearing her description." Lyall wasn't as tall as Lexaeus, by a long-shot. However he still managed to look intimidating while narrowing his eyes _upward_ at Lexaeus. The much larger man visibly tensed at his words, dark blue eyes narrowing. "It was almost a relief when I finally released her from my services. Still, her replacement didn't live up to my Pup's legacy.

"_I_ was her master, nobody else's name should have been allowed to pass through her lips. Yet no matter how many times I broke her, the only name she would call was '_Aeleus_'." he paused when Lexaeus' fist slammed once more against the invisible barrier, right in front of Lyall's face. However the Higher Up did not flinch. "Does that anger you? What right have you to be angry? She's the one who selfishly held on to the memory of a dead man." While Lyall's voice never lost it's steady calm rhythm and tone his eyes seemed to flash dangerously at his words. "The fault is neither mine nor yours ... Sierra was the one in the wrong in this."

At the name the rest of the Original Six (minus Zexion) shared significant looks of empathy. Vexen could only look towards his old friend with sympathy and pain in his eyes. Until they could get past these barriers there was no way to give the man any comfort. "Shut up!" Lexaeus hissed venemously. "You have no right to speak her name!"

Lyall's lips twitched slightly. "But I think I do. You see, I'm a jealous man and am not one to willingly share anything. Particularly with another man who, at the time, was supposed to be dead. By all rights, the first survivor of that project belonged solely to me. I had to admire her spirit and defiance, still believing you'd come to take her away no matter how many times we told her Aeleus no longer existed." neither man was willing to look away from the other's gaze. "She had no right, no reason and yet she persisted. I had to admire that, I tell you ... I genuinely grieved at her passing. Did you?"

It was a low blow, and to the on-lookers it was obvious that Lyall knew that already when he spoke those words. Lexaeus had no capability to grieve at the time and the events up until now hadn't allowed him any time to. The Silent Hero couldn't hide the look of pain on his face brought on by the ache in his heart, the words had done their job well and had cut him incredibly deeply.

"I didn't think so." Lyall backed away slowly, never taking his eyes off of Lexaeus' barely controlled trembles. "As I said before, we will not fight today. But I'll meet you here at noon tomorrow. Just myself, my partner, and the twelve of you. There's no need to involve the civilians." there was a long, pregnant pause before he adressed Lexaeus again. "Do you hate me? I suppose I can't blame you, Kyndeyrn may have subjected her to the harsh treatments that killed her, but to you I guess it is I who is the real monster behind the loss of her life. Whatever helps you sleep tonight."

Lyall's venemous green eyes scanned over them for one final time. "Until tomorrow, my dear _Nobodies_."

With those last words Lyall and the barriers disappeared. There was an audible thud as the Silent Hero fell to his knees, fists clenched as he fought to control his breathing and calm himself down. He barely noticed as Demyx knelt beside him, wrapping an arm as far around Lexaeus' shoulders as far as he could. The Nocturne didn't speak, he just tried to convey his support by giving the the closest bicep a light squeaze.

The others gathered silently around them, Zexion standing right beside Lexaeus. He wasn't one to show physical affection, in any form. But he knew Lexaeus well enough to know that his presence was enough to at least provide a tiny amount of comfort. "Come. We should rest before tomorrow." Zexion said, making the effort to soften the tone of his voice, his heart aching for the plight of his best friend. "Don't worry, we'll make sure that man doesn't go unpunished."

* * *

**_A/N:_** And the drama returns! It took a little longer than I would have liked to actually get started on writing this one. But I needed to actually figure out what I wanted Lyall to look and act like. The same goes for The Mistress. I figured that if I got them both done at the same time it would make things easier for me in the long run. I'm actually feeling really sorry for poor Lexaeus, he can't catch a break when it comes to this, can he?

Anyway, I was very happy with this chapter. I think it is a pretty good link between the last one and the one coming. Of course as you can tell the action starts up again next chapter, so yay mayhem! Unfortunately I don't think this story will last for too much longer, but I do still intend to make a sequel later on. Not two like I originally planned, because I think that would just actually be tedious and a bit too much. Especially considering what my plan for the third story actually was.

All forms of reviews are appreciated, any constructive criticism is especially appreciated. Hope you enjoyed it!

Gael


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