The flames were black.

Despite the colour, the flames seemed to illuminate the cavers that everybody was situated in.

"Trust Axel to be in a place like this" Demyx murmured as Roxas stepped forward and touched the black flames with his index finger.

His finger warmed but didn't burn and Demyx watched him with large oceanic eyes. "Aren't they hurting you?" he asked in disbelief.

"No" came the muttered response "It's not hurting at all."

"I bet it's mutual," Xigbar said, sweeping his golden eye over the congregated crowd. "Roxas isn't the special one here, I bet anybody could walk over and put their fingers in the fire."

"Go on then" Zexion said smoothly "Prove us wrong then."

"...No."

"Thought so..."

Roxas lifted his head to look around the cavern before unintentionally leading the Crew down the cavern and to the adjacent one, running his hands through the flames as he did so. When the mouth of the cave loomed above them, Roxas stopped short and Demyx bumped into him with an 'oompf.'

"Wha! How are we supposed to find the red headed bastard in this?" Xigbar shouted, his voice echoing out into the vast cavern below them.

A Maze blazed to life with multi-coloured flames then.

Black and red, blue to green, orange to yellow flames danced around them and illuminated the path leading down to the entrance of the maze and a sense of foreboding fell upon not only the Organisation, but the Heroes as well.

It didn't sway Roxas however.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and his voice rung aloud and clear:

"I'm coming Axel, I'm here for you now."

Then he jumped down from the ledge and onto the lit path and began to run towards the entrance of the Labyrinth. Everybody else hesitated and lingered on behind.

"Are we really going to go?" Zexion asked disdainfully, watching Roxas disappear down the path. "I have the feeling that something bad will happen if we do go, but if we don't, something will still go wrong."

"It's scary," Demyx said, biting down on his finger nervously "I don't like the dark, it's already dark enough and it gets even darker down there."

He seemed torn, "Are we going to go down there?"

Another awkward silence before there was a nervous chuckle "Well from what Zexion said, either way, something will go wrong right?"

It was Sora, who parted the sea of black cloaks and watched his Nobody disappear into the entrance of the Maze.

I'm not saying that we separate all individually, split into groups and we can search. I have no doubt that Roxas will find Axel first. We can find each other afterwards, this is the Underworld, So I know where I'm going."

"Whatever" Xigbar said "Let's get this over and don with, I have had enough of wandering around aimlessly in this darkness, half the people here I don't even like."

Said dark glare in Marluxia's general direction.

"I know I have enemies!" Marluxia exclaimed loudly "There's no need to outwardly express hatred towards me, it's all in the past. I won't do it again."

"It's not hatred" Larxene said coolly "Its general distrust. We don't have hearts remember?"

"We do so!" Demyx retorted from the front, "If we don't have hearts, why are we all weary and frightened of going down there then?"

"I'm not frightened" Zexion replied, "I just don't want to go down there. There is a difference Demyx."

"I'm going" Demyx shot back "I'm going to go find Roxas and Axel."

The Nocturne jumped from the small ledge and onto the path and the Schemer called out "Not a wise move Demyx, get back here until we have a plan, Dem-... Why doesn't he ever listen?"

Zexion looked around to the disinterested Organisation before directing several orders, "Xigbar, Luxord, Lexaeus and Xaldin you come with me, Vexen, Marluxia, Larxene... You go with Sora and the others."

His designated group followed Zexion who was perusing Demyx, the other group stood there with arms folded, and Sora only scratched his head nervously. "Well let's follow them," he suggested.

"I can't believe him" Larxene snorted, "What makes him think he is the Leader of us? He's the shortest! He can't be the Leader!"

"Let's stop fighting and get down there," Sora, said, "When we find everyone, we can get out of here. Everyone is looking forward to get out of here."

"I suppose" Larxene muttered, "Hate to be listening to you, but you have a point."

Sora jumped down the ledge and the Organisation Members stood above him looking down at him almost looking bored. Riku and Kairi jumped down beside him and after another awkward silence, Sora tried to urge them on but to no avail.

Sora suppressed a sigh before Riku said roughly, holding out his hand. "If you aren't willing to help with this, we can leave you behind. Since I'm the one controlling the strings around here, it will be easy to transport the others back to the Living World and leave you all behind."

"You won't dare!" Larxene snarled, her green eyes sparking in what seemed to be concern. Riku folded his arms, his turquoise eyes cool "Want to try me?"

Larxene jumped from the ledge, quickly followed by Marluxia and Vexen and Riku smirked at Sora "How easy is that?"

Sora only smiled to his friend "I'll leave this handling of the Members to you Riku; you know the threats where I don't."

"Well lets hurry and do this" Kairi smiled "Let's go."

So that was that, the Organisation split in search of the Red Head everybody was truthfully, weary of what he was going to do.

Roxas halted and looked up to the dark top of the cave. His gut was twisting and he was following instinct to find his way through the endless maze.

He looked back to the twisting dark walls around him before taking the right and running down it. His breaths were coming in short rapid gasps. But he pushed on. He refused to stop.

Then he came to a cross section.

Roxas stopped dead in his tracks and looked down either way trying to calm down his breathing. He sunk his teeth into his lip and looked long and hard down each path.

'Come on Axel' he thought ' Give me a sign, give me anything!'

Silence.

"Axel!" Roxas used this as his last resort, "Come on Axel, give me a sign."

Still silence.

Just great

Roxas focused back on himself and wondered where to go. But nothing came, only one way could lead him to Axel, the others could lead to a dead end and could him hopelessly lost.

"A little lost Roxas?"

The blonde Nobody looked up with surprise and saw Sora sitting on the dark wall, swinging his legs over the side, "Never thought of doing it this way huh?"

"How-... How did you get up there?" Roxas asked incredulously "Y-You found me so fast!"

"It's easy" Sora smiled "Besides, I haven't been helping you out over this whole ordeal, the least I can do is help you find Axel. You have stuck around this whole time."

"This isn't going to make me like you" came the dark response, "I still don't know what to think of you, are you a friend or an enemy?" Roxas looked around the Cross again, still feeling uncertain. He grudgingly looked back up to Sora when he spoke.

"I've never double crossed you Roxas, to be honest, I didn't even think that you had existed, what had happened to you wasn't by my accord. I had been unconscious all of it. I didn't wake up until they had you captured."

Roxas still eyes him wearily so Sora sighed, "I'm not an enemy Roxas, if I was, I would allow you to keep on living a life of torture. I wouldn't be doing this for you; maybe...I would have left you and Axel behind, but no... Just- let me help you."

There was another silence... Which Sora was quickly getting tired of before Roxas finally relented. "Fine" he said "show me what you can do Sora, show to me that you are my Somebody!"

The brunette smiled and heaved himself up to his feet. He balanced precariously on the wall and gestured Roxas up. "If you get a decent enough jump, I'll pull you up."

Roxas nodded.

The paths between the walls weren't wide, so it would have been easy to jump from wall to wall, given that Sora had caught up to him so easily when Roxas had a huge head start on everybody.

Roxas lowered himself, before springing back up, jumping up on the wall and holding his hand out. Sora caught him deftly and pulled the blonde up on top of the wall.

The sight was a welcoming sight to Roxas.

He was able to see over the whole maze and right at the end was a large cut off cavern with flames licking the mouth of it.

His stomach lurched in joy and that's where he pointed.

"Over there!"

"Let's go then" Sora smiled to Roxas, he didn't get in return however.

The Keyblade Wielders leapt over the tops of the walls, almost racing each other to see who would make the flaming cavern first.

Roxas' balance was a lot steadier than Sora's.

He had often prided himself on his balance and his ability to maintain heights and fights. But Sora knew that Roxas could be better at things than what he could ever be.

Sora had taught himself how to fight, had to learn many things by himself whereas Roxas was a trained combat fighter, he had the Organisation to teach him right from wrong in fights. He had numerous abilities that could possibly outweigh Sora...

But Sora had natural talent and sheer luck.

That could always be enough to beat any trained fighter.

They reached the end, much earlier than what they had previously anticipated.

For the first time, on this whole mission to the Darkness, Sora saw Roxas' eyes light up enthusiastically.

"There" he exclaimed, "I can feel it in my gut, I bet you he'll be there."

Roxas launched off the last wall with ease, landing on his two feet and dashing for the entrance, he almost seemed to part the flames and he quickly disappeared again.

Sora sighed. 'There's no stopping him.'

He jumped from the wall, steadied himself before checking his surroundings and following Roxas into the cavern. At first, the unbecoming sight of darkness welcomed him.

How had he had enough of that.

"Roxas?"

Sora looked around cautiously, especially when the hairs on his arms began to prickle nervously. He felt sweat start to drop down his hairline and he tried to accustom his eyes before he said a little more loudly.

"Come on Rox, where are you?"

Then...

Sora yelped out in surprise when the cavern suddenly blazed with light. Red flames raced up the walls, covering the entire cavern in an inferno of fire. Sora felt his shirt tighten around his neck and he was thrust up into the air. His hands flew to the front of his shirt to try to relieve the sudden tension and his eyes met the blazing green ones that belonged to no other but Axel.

"What are you doing here?" Axel shouted, "What makes you think you can walk the path of darkness without suffering and pain?"

"A-Axel" Sora wheezed, trying to pull his collar "We've come to help you!"

From beside Axel, the familiar figure of Saix loomed over his shoulder with dangerous golden eyes. "The Keyblade Wielder" he said in a monotone "How interesting to find you here."

"Axel?"

The voice rung out through the fiery cavern and Axel grip slackened and he dropped Sora to the earth, who coughed and sputtered trying to regain his lost breath.

Axel spun around.

Then came Roxas.

The blonde eyed the Redhead cautiously as he stepped forward. He tread slowly, unsure of how Axel would react, then the lamest question Roxas could possibly ever said came from his mouth.

"Do you remember me?"

Axel's face went to disbelieving into a classic Axel-Smirk "That's one of the stupidest things I have ever heard you say Roxas. Do you think I'm blind?"

"I just didn't want you to attack me" Roxas frowned to him "Why else?"

"Can't say that's still not going to happen" Axel countered "After all, you did betray the Organisation, you walked out on everything, walked out on your friendship to your friends, walked out on me. What made you think I wouldn't miss you? How easy it would have been for us to keep collecting hearts and eating ice-cream on the Clock Tower."

Roxas flinched back at every hit Axel got in.

"You had always said you wanted everything to be the same," Axel continued "We could have kept everything the same, it's your fault, you betrayed-..."

"STOP" Roxas shouted covering his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut and he continued to shout, "Everything would have changed anyway Axel! You lied to me! Xion was going to take my place and become Sora! You were going to let me die!"

Axel visibly flinched back and when no witty remark came from his mouth, Roxas opened his eyes and withdrew his hands from his head. His blue eyes were sad, "Everybody thought I was stupid," he said softly "But I wasn't, and you kept me behind a veil of lies Axel. Tell me... Did you ever tell me the truth? Name one time..."

There was the conflicted face, as Axel tried to recall his memories of being with Roxas. They weren't very comforting looks either.

Roxas could swear he could see Axel's inner turmoil, every path he seemed to be recalling, hitting a dead end.

He been lying the whole time?

Maybe... The other Organisation members were right.

Axel took everybody for a ride for his own personal gain and amusement.

"I was telling the truth when I said that we were friends" Axel finally said quietly "Doesn't that mean enough? I wasn't lying then, I was telling the truth when I said that I would miss you if you left the Organisation."

Axel stepped back his jade eyes dark, "Heed me out when I say this Roxas, I was opposed the whole Xion predicament. I didn't mean for both of you to grow on me, when you got sick and you weren't going to wake up. I began to feel a little worried." He chuckled "Hear that? Worried. A Nobody feeling emotion? Its nigh impossible!"

Roxas scuffed his boots in the dark, keeping his jaw rigid as he steeled himself to continue glaring at Axel.

He couldn't help but feel hurt.

Betrayed almost.

No, he possibly looked like a fool in front of the whole Organisation...because... he was the only one that wanted to bring Axel back.

"Then-..."

Axel looked back to him, all traces of his arrogant smirk gone. "When you had decided to leave to find the answers that I couldn't give you, I watched you leave and I felt bad. I could almost hate myself for...allowing you to walk away."

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly "I kicked myself for not going after you, I returned to the Castle and. I won't forgive myself for that, so when I was given a chance to save you and bring you back, I went through the missions so I could have my best friend back."

This was new... Roxas hadn't heard this story before.

Or was it just an elaborate hoax.

"DiZ tried to keep me out, but I always managed to get in. When you didn't recognise who I was, I felt like giving up right there on the spot and almost beg you to remember. To remember me and the rest of your friends, the ones that cared for you."

From a little distance away, Sora saw the tension between Axel and Roxas. But at the same time, he could feel his heart bleeding for them. He seriously felt sorry for two, which had to suffer in the circumstances they were put under.

The bonds of friendship would have to show in this situation, to make Roxas forgive Axel. 'Would they be able to pull through?' Sora wondered.

Then, out of the corner of his peripheral vision, the Hero saw Saix clench his fists as Axel and Roxas spoke.

His knuckles turned white and Sora peeked to his face to see Saix's jaw taught as he mashed his teeth together.

He was...angry?

He got the terrible feeling that Saix was angry with Roxas.

He was going to attack.

Without even thinking, Sora jumped up to his feet and launched at Saix, just as the Berserker lunged forward to grab Roxas around the throat. Sora's fists clenched around Saix's and the blue haired Nobody shouted over Sora's shoulder to a wide-eyed Roxas:

"It was your fault that Axel betrayed the Organisation! Everything was going all according to plan before he decided to toss it all away for you!"

"Saix!" Axel roared a look of pure surprise on his face "What is-...?"

Roxas took several steps back as Sora was pushed back by the force of Saix's strength, skid marks appearing from where his shoes were dug into the earth. "Get out of here" Sora grunted to Roxas, fighting the exertion of trying to hold Saix back.

Roxas looked to Axel then back to Saix, fear and confusion dancing in his eyes. Trying to comprehend what was happening.

Then his eyes hardened and a spark of blue fire burned in his eyes.

"What's your problem?" Roxas shouted to Saix "For you to try and attack me because of what Axel wanted to do? Just because we disobeyed, orders and decided to leave? I'm surprised none of the others left the same time we did. Didn't like having your authority thwarted like that did you?"

Saix knocked Sora down to the ebony coloured earth before lunging back to Roxas. The blonde dodging away and summoning Oblivion.

He swung it around neatly and caught Saix in the stomach, knocking him back and swinging his dark Keyblade down and dark blood spattering the earth.

"I have beaten you once before" Roxas said in a deathly whisper "I will do it again and this time, I won't hesitate in killing you!"

Roxas raised Oblivion once more before the back of his cloak was pulled back and Axel's face smirked next to his. "Don't get him angry Roxas, then we'll both pay for it."

Roxas was breathing rapidly again, this time, feeling anger course through his veins as he stared at Saix in hate. One of the members that was key in destroying him all that time ago.

Saix steadied himself up.

"Why are you here?"

Before Roxas could answer, it was Sora that was brave enough to stand in. He got to his feet, walked in front of Roxas, and flung out his arm as if he intended to protect Roxas yet again. "Kingdom Hearts had come back in the Living Realm" he barked, "Xemnas' stupidity in trying to control it has mutated its magic. Since you Nobodies had idea on what Xemnas planned, you can stop it."

"Xemnas was a fool" Saix snarled, "He done what appeased him, I had my doubts on him actually controlling it fully, so now, you have come here seeking our help."

"Preferably not you" Sora seethed "After what I had witnessed on how you treated your subordinates, I'm thinking about leaving you behind!"

...

Behind Sora...

Axel leant down to Roxas ear "Has he always been this smart?"

Roxas could only shrug.

...

"You wouldn't want to do that," Saix snarled, looking down to his ripped cloak and looking at the stained blood. He covered it with his hand "If you wanted to know Xemnas' inner workings of this whole ordeal, I would be the one to consult."

Sora felt stumped then.

Saix had a point.

"Consult? Help? I don't think so" a sharp voice rung out from behind them.

All four in the fiery cavern turned and were greeted by the sight of the rest of the Organisation, Zexion standing in the lead.

His large blue eye locked on Saix, "You say that Xemnas was a fool, which on I agree. But weren't you quick on ordering Axel to eliminate the Castle Oblivion Team when I found out your dirty little secret?"

Saix withdrew his stained hand, "I didn't plan on having you back...Zexion."

The Schemer looked like he could kill Saix right there, the animosity falling off him in waves could have made Roxas' foul moods look like a toddler's tantrum.

"Going behind Xemnas and killing half of the Organisation because you and Axel wanted to take over..."

The silence made even Sora cringe.

"So that was it," Xigbar's rough voice said, "You wanted to kill Xemnas and take over the Leadership? Is that why you two acted so rashly towards the end. You especially Saix, after Axel left to find Roxas, didn't you have every intention on stopping Xemnas yourself."

"You were all already dead" Saix said coldly, his face still hardened into a frown. "There was no point in leading an Organisation when there were no members, if I had succeeded, I would have gotten my Heart back."

"You scummy cheater" Luxord said from beside Xigbar, pulling out his deck of Tarot Cards. He took off the top three.

The Devil

The Hanged Man

The Burning Tower

"You should have let Roxas kill Saix, Axel" the wobbly voice of Demyx came out. "Look on what we all had to endure because of that. I want to go home and..."

"Axel is one to blame as well" Zexion said sharply "They both conspired to this, like I have said time and time again. Axel benefited for only himself. Since he and Saix were friends before they even joined the Organisation, you could gather that they were working together."

"Lay off Zexion" Axel smirked from beside Roxas, waving his hand dismissively "You're just blabbing, nobody really cares what you think. I know I wouldn't want to listen to a know-it-all who thinks he knows anything anyway."

"Axel" Roxas warned, "Don't make him angry, he's been like this ever since we started looking for everybody. Don't make it worse."

"I was not!" Zexion exclaimed indignantly, a tick mark appearing on his forehead "Stop saying things that aren't true Roxas."

"Well you are kind of cranky Zexion," Demyx agreed and from behind them, there were multiple nods of agreement from the other Nobodies.

"But I must admit" Xigbar announced, "Shorty here has been helpful and has prevented us from going crazy yet. Even though I'm number 2...and he's number 6, anybody see the difference?"

"Look enough with the chit chat" a weary and irritated voice broke out.

Everybody turned their heads and through the break in the crowd, Riku came through gazing at Saix. "As I had said before, I can choose who goes and stays. At this current time, we have all had enough of this darkness and want to get home."

His turquoise eyes were hard.

"Can you guarantee that you will not bring any harm to my friends or anybody else in this Organisation?"

Saix rolled his eyes, "I won't hurt anybody whilst I am in the minority."

"Well that's assuring" Riku said, his breath hitching and gaining everybody's attention. "I have just lost my power to hold us here. Sora and Kairi get hold of me, the rest of you. Hold hands so we can get back safely."

"I don't want to hold anybody's hand," Marluxia said looking disgusted, Larxene rolled her eyes and her hands wrapped around his arm. "Shut your trap and hold on. I want to get out of this place." Everybody agreed.

The last thing any of them remember was the fire consuming them and the blackness consuming them all.

Read over this story...

I'm horrified people even liked it... Especially with the way it was written..

Expect Re-Writes... Eventually

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