A.N: This is going to be my first, full-length romantic Dark Cloud crossover story, this time, with Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. If you're new to this story, you can look up the characters on the various wikis. Another thing that is worth mentioning is that this fic is very slightly AU, which means that, in addition to being a crossover, it also takes place in a different universe than the original games. Most things are the same, but there are slight differences here and there. When you see these changes I made, don't go into a fanboy rage and write a bunch of flame reviews. Thank you for your maturity.

Disclaimer: I don't own either Dark Cloud or Kingdom Hearts. Sorry.

X~X~X

(Taken from "Chapter 1: Leaving Hope" of "The Persistence of Loss" by TrippyToasters)

Xion lay on her back in her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling of her bedroom. It was gray, like everything else in The Castle That Never Was. Normally the gray didn't bother her, but today it felt different. After passing through so many worlds with Riku, the dullness of this place seemed almost to taunt her. It was reminding her how trapped she was, how no matter what she did, the whole mess she called her life was going to end with someone hurt.

The gray was everywhere. She could turn her head and look at something else in her bedroom, but that would be pointless. Everything in the castle was dull and lifeless. Xemnas and his followers were obsessed with the concept of their own nothingness. It was mostly Xemnas' thing, for sure. But they all desired to have hearts, whether they showed it or not.

The dullness of the place was intentional, she was sure. The Nobodies had chose a place that reflected their true nature. Their true nature as nothing, merely empty shells of something that was once beautiful. Without hearts, they were essentially a violation of the laws of nature. These hearts they so desired, but could never have, as Xion now knew. Kingdom Hearts would grant Xemnas power, but they were all stuck without hearts. Trapped forever as Nobodies...

But Xion wasn't a Nobody, like they were. She was a Replica, and an imperfect one at that. They were more real than her, as ridiculous as that sounded. Her very existence was unstable, and prolonging it only put the others in danger. Being around Roxas slowly drained his energy, and would eventually kill him. And not to mention poor Sora. If she did not die, he would never be able to wake up.

So whatever time she had was borrowed time at best. She would have to face her destiny at some point, but she could at least enjoy a few more sunsets with Roxas and Axel before she had to die.

She hated it, but there was nothing she could do. Anyway she could possibly try to resolve this with her survival would only make things worse. And if she did find some way to continue existing, would it still be her? Or would Sora's memories morph her into somebody else entirely? She could become some twisted imitation of Sora, or perhaps Kairi. She already was an imitation of Kairi, in a way.

Who was she truly? Was there a person buried beneath all those memories who was the true Xion? She wasn't particularly bound as the black haired girl that everyone saw. She knew Xigbar saw her as someone else, as she had read his journal. And she knew Saïx saw her as an empty puppet, but whether that was only in nature or in his very vision of her was something she could not be sure of. And Xemnas saw her as Sora, but that was understandable, as that was what he truly wanted.

So who would she be if the memories that her present form was built on were stripped away? The black haired girl? Sora? Or just a dead, empty shell?

Probably the latter, she thought grimly. She clenched her eyes shut, tired of the empty grayness around her, and tired of her splitting headache. She rubbed her eyes, wishing she had something to do. It was too early to go to sleep, but the last thing she wanted to do was go out to the Gray Area and be around the other Organization members. People who pretended to be friendly while plotting to kill each other. Everything they did was fake. Right now, all she wanted was to be around something real.

Sighing, she sat up on her bed and summoned her keyblade. She looked over it, thinking of all the Heartless she had slain with it. Despite all the battles it had experienced, there wasn't a single niche or scratch on its shiny surface.

It wasn't her keyblade. Nor was Roxas' his. They both came from Sora, so they had access to his skills. What right did she have to work against him with his own tools? She sent the keyblade away and stood up. She paced around her room for a while, rubbing her temples. She didn't know why her head hurt so much, but it probably had something to do with Sora. Everything had to do with Sora.

Sora was starting to piss her off. He wasn't even conscious right now, yet everything still revolved around him. Riku was working to wake him up, and was more than willing to destroy both her and Roxas to do so. Naminé was trying to piece back together the memory she destroyed, the memories that were giving Roxas hallucinations and were destroying her existence.

But Nobodies and Replicas weren't real, right? That's what they all said. They weren't real people, so they didn't have to be treated as such.

Xion clenched her fists. She was real! She had a body and a mind. She didn't have a heart, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel. Those days atop the clock tower proved that. She was a person, and she didn't deserve to be treated like a puppet. She deserved to have a happy ending just as much as Sora did.

She'd come to a decision. She was going to find a way to make it work. It was a shame that Sora would have to wait to wake up, but that was just too bad.

The last time she left the Organization, Axel had just brought her back. But she hadn't been as careful as she could have. She knew enough about the Organization to avoid them. They hadn't caught her, she had wanted to go back. To say goodbye to Roxas and Axel. To see her friends one last time.

She would leave to find a way for everyone to survive. Dying and returning to Sora was just giving up. She existed now, so they were just going to have to deal with that.

She stood up and went to her door. After listening for a second, she was sure nobody else was there. She slowly opened the door and poked her head out. As she suspected, the hallway was empty. She stepped out, and made her way down the halls, heading for the exit. She had to step outside of the castle before she could use a Corridor of Darkness. Otherwise, the others would know she was gone in a second. But getting to the streets would be easy.

Nothing was going to stop her now. She would fight them all for her right to exist.

X~X~X

Xion had nearly made it out of the Castle That Never Was, when she heard a voice behind her call out her name. The voice was so familiar, she knew who it was without even turning around.

"Xion..." Roxas said. "Where are you going?"

She stood with her back turned to him, knowing that if she saw his face it would bring her to tears. A funny thought, seeing as how she wasn't supposed to have a heart.

"I'm leaving. And I'm not coming back until I have a way to set things right." She forced herself to say.

"Don't do this." Roxas said, coming closer. "Axel just brought you back. They'll send him to do it again. Think of what will happen. Think of what Saïx will do to you, after running a second time. He let it go the first time, but he doesn't forgive twice."

She said nothing.

"Especially not for you. I don't know why he hates you so much, but I can't protect you from all of them. Please, Xion. Don't make them destroy you."

He stood just behind her now. Not turning to face him, she sighed.

"I wish things could just keep going the way they were." She said. "But it's over. Those days are gone. And if I want to hold on to anything, anything at all... Well, I have to do this. Otherwise, we'll never be able to have ice cream again."

"Why?" He demanded, grabbing her shoulder, and turning her around. "Why is everything so different now? Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?"

Her eyes were cast down. She just couldn't look at him.

"I wish I could tell you." She said. "But being near you is hurting you. And you're not the only one. I have to go and find a way. So that everyone can go on, and nobody will be hurt. He told me the only way for that was to die, but I know there's another way. Somehow..."

"Who told you that?" Roxas demanded. "That man you were with? The one who dresses like one of us? He's lying to you, Xion! Don't listen to him! I don't know who he is, but he's running around in our coat, pretending to be one of us. You can't trust somebody like that."

She slipped her hand from his grip and turned half away from him. "I don't know who I can trust anymore. I can't trust Xemnas, that's for sure. I have to leave, Roxas. Or everything is going to get much worse."

Roxas stepped back, a hurt look in his eyes. Xion struggled not to look at him.

"There is always the easy way." Xion said. "But that would destroy me. And you as well, in time. But I don't want to die. I refuse to accept that that's the only way. So I'm leaving, and I'll come back when I have a way for us all to survive. Then we can have ice cream again."

Roxas was quiet for a moment before he spoke.

"So that's it, then. You have to go..."

He took her hand in his.

"Fine. Just be careful, okay?"

Xion met his gaze at last. He had a sad smile on his face.

"You, too. Don't be too trusting, Roxas. The Organization is built on lies."

She turned and started walking away. It hurt her to leave like this, but she had no choice. This was the only way.

"We're going to have ice cream again!" Roxas called after her. "Promise me!"

"We will!" She called back. "I promise!"

Xion stepped just outside of the castle, and summoned a Corridor of Darkness. She flashed Roxas a quick smile, and disappeared through it. After a few moments, Roxas walked back inside, muttering something to himself. Up on the balcony, overlooking the entire scene, a shadow stood behind a pillar, grinning.

"So, Poppet's gone again, huh... They just never learn, do they?"

X~X~X

Xion stepped out of the Corridor into a forest.

She was in a new world, one that she had discovered herself about a week before she had left with Riku. The rest of the organization had no knowledge of this world. Not to mention that the world was huge, larger than any she had been to before. Hiding here would be easy.

Blue Terra was a very unique world, very different from the ones Xion had been to before. It wasn't as developed as the other worlds, but that wasn't its most interesting feature. As far as she knew, the Organization wasn't even aware of it's existence.

The whole world was also different. How that was even possible was something Xion couldn't understand. Not to mention how it just... felt. There was something very strange about this place. It was like the very air was different somehow. It seemed a fitting place to begin her search.

Xion made her way through the forest. If her memory of this world was correct, she should be close to a large castle that used to belong to a young prince turned king four-hundred years ago. This was where she had arrived when she first came here, and she remembered a man-made gravestone carved out of a rock.

It was strange, because she didn't see the castle towers above the trees. Granted, it was night now, and it had been daytime when she first came here, but it wasn't really something you missed. She was certain she was on the right path, so she should be seeing it.

Her certainty was cast into doubt when she emerged from the forest to find a totally different scene than the one she expected.

The castle was utterly gone, replaced by a massive chasm that stretched all the way to the smaller mountains to the north. For a moment, she wondered where the castle had gone, but her question was answered when she spotted a jagged piece of land surrounded by a thick layer of violent clouds hovering in the heavens above.

She didn't know why, but the need to hurry there was stronger. She found herself summoning a Dark Corridor and appearing in the castle gates, pushing the door, that had a demon holding a scythe in its hand, open. Whatever force was pressing her on, she could not resist its urgency.

X~X~X

(Taken from "Chapter 1: The Prologue" of "Memories of a Fallen King" by kaehimi)

Seda felt the cold vine of the Dark Genie's powers grip his soul. It dug deeper and further within his heart. Like a parasite that would not release its hold, the Dark Genie only tightened his grip. Seda walked through his palace, now known as Dark Heaven Castle. "My castle sure has changed..." He remarked as he strode through the empty corridors, his footsteps echoing.

Lapse of Time…

Seda pulled out the large sword. It was made of a durable metal that shone, and upon its purple hilt glowed a red jewel. He shook with the effort of withstanding the Dark Genie's irresistible pull. "I am not yet ready to give up this body!" Seda yelled as he thrust the huge sword into his abdomen. "I will never surrender to the likes of you!" With his last strand of power, he opened the portal to the Gallery of Time. Gasping for his last breaths of air, Seda shouted to Toan, "Go!" And then darkness over took him as his life suddenly ended…

…when someone caught him just before he even hit the floor and right after Toan jumped into the portal leading to the Gallery of Time.

Confused, Seda opened his eyes to see a blurred face of a young girl with black hair and blue eyes before he once again slipped into unconsciousness.

"Please… don't go. You have to live…!" She said before she started dragging his body outside of the castle…

…Until both of them started falling to their demise after she accidentally lost her footing.

As they fell, Seda held her body tightly, not caring if the sword that was still lodged in his abdomen moved to the hilt.

X~X~X

(Taken from "Chapter 2: The Great Below" of "The Persistence of Loss" by TrippyToasters)

Xion tried to breathe, but found she couldn't. She opened her eyes, but saw nothing. Everything was so dark. She couldn't see, and she couldn't breathe. She tried to move her arms, but something firm held them at her side. Panicked, she tried to remember what had happened. All she remembered was trying to stop that man from stabbing himself in the abdomen and presumably dying from blood loss. They had both fallen.

Was she dead?

Xion desperately tried to do something, anything. Nothing seemed to be working. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. She needed so desperately to breathe, but she just couldn't for some reason. Everything was so dark...

Her senses kicked in and she realized she was falling through the thick, sinister clouds.

That man she had tried to save... He was holding her very tightly. He had wrapped his arms around her as they had fell despite the fact that his sword was still lodged in his abdomen.

Quickly summoning a Dark Corridor, she fell into the dark vortex along with the man that she was trying to save, safely landing on the ground floor unharmed.

After catching her breath, Xion looked around, trying to gather her bearings. The moonlight was faint, but it was just enough for her to see something.

Walking up to the man that was still bleeding, she gripped his sword and started to slowly pull it out of his abdomen, trying her best not to throw up due to the oddly-colored dark blood that dripped off the large blade. After a while, she sheathed the sword, wiped it down, strapped it to her back, placed her hands over the huge slit in his abdomen and cast a cure spell.

Or at least she tried to cast cure. She spoke the words, but nothing happened. She cursed aloud when she realized she hadn't equipped any cure spells before she left.

What was she to do? If she didn't get him healed, he would definitely die from blood loss.

She figured she had to find some sort of shelter. The Organization members were all given basic survival training, in case of situations like this. It wasn't anything more than basic, since the Nobodies could just RTC if things got too bad. But she couldn't do that anymore.

She struggled on, more dragging the heavy warrior behind her than actually carrying him. If he hadn't been an idiot and stabbed himself in the abdomen, she wouldn't be lugging his fat ass across the ground. If and when he woke up, she would have strong words for him.

A thought then struck her. If she didn't have a heart, why was she trying so hard to save this total stranger? Why had she even bothered to try to stop him from killing himself, much less risk her own life to keep him alive? If the things Saïx had told her were true, she should have been impartial to the whole affair. She was sure the other members would have been.

Whatever the reason, Xion figured she could worry about it later. Right now, she needed to find a safe place. She scanned around, looking for some sort of cave or something. As if her prayers had been heard, she quickly spotted an abandoned building that looked like a temple of some kind. She grunted as she opened the large door of the temple, the door groaning so loud she was worried the Organization would hear it all the way in their castle.

Opening the door to one of the guest rooms, she pulled the man up in the bed, and started stitching his abdomen up with some white bandages that she found after she pulled the black vest off and sewed it up, along with his black boots and gauntlets, hoping to stop the continuous bleeding due to the mysterious dark blood and changing them every now and then. She wasn't touching his pants. Screw it, those stayed on.

Xion needed to find a way back up the dark castle. She needed to get to a village and steal some local clothes. She would never be able to hide from the Organization if she ran around in their cloak. She needed to blend in. A dark corridor would get her up there, but she suspected that the Organization could track those, and if so, she had to avoid using them. If that was so, they'd already know she was here.

She had to lie low for a little while. The Organization would be looking for her pretty actively at first. But if she could avoid them, they might assume her dead and relax their search. Perhaps if they figured she'd fallen in the thick layer of violent clouds, they would assume she'd died. That would be a much needed-blessing.

Either way, she had to get Xemnas and his gang off her trail before she could focus her efforts on finding a way to solve the issue with Sora's memories.

Perhaps she could find someone like Naminè. Someone who had power over memories. Naminè couldn't be the only person with those abilities out there, in all the worlds. Maybe instead of just moving the memories around, they could find a way to duplicate them. Then Sora could get his memories back, and Xion could stay intact. If it was possible to make two copies of the same memory... That might actually work.

Was that possible? If so, had Naminè even considered such an approach? Or did that red guy just want them all gone, and had pushed her towards the easy way? She didn't like that red guy.

All Xion knew was that she couldn't trust either side right now. The Organization would want her destroyed after running away a second time, and Riku and Naminè wanted to turn her into Sora-food. If she wanted to live, she had to avoid them both.

She looked outside. The sun was starting to rise. It reminded her of those times with Roxas and Axel atop the clock tower.

The silver-haired man groaned in pain as he started to slowly open his eyes. She turned to him, worried that he was waking up. But he kept them closed and turned away from her. He must be sleeping now, she figured.

She turned back to watch the sunrise. It was always breathtaking, no matter what world it occurred on.

When she stitched his black vest together, she would just leave his sword in its scabbard.

X~X~X

Seda could feel his heart racing as he slowly opened his eyes and saw a high ceiling in his view as he slowly got up, immediately groaning in pain as he pressed his hand against his abdomen, only to find that there were bandages tightly wrapped around the area where he stabbed himself after fighting off the Genie's power in order to prevent the Dark Genie from invading his mind. As he felt the bandages around his abdomen, Seda noticed that they were covered in dried-up purple blood before he took them off and saw that he had a huge scar on his abdomen where the bloody slit used to be. Looking around even further, he found a small trash can filled with crumpled-up bloody bandages, most of the blood belonging to him before he saw that his sword was missing.

As he pulled his black boots back on, he noticed a huge tear in his black vest from when his sword made contact with his skin and flesh, noticing that there was a thin piece of black fabric sewn into the hole in the vest before he heard a familiar voice.

"I see that you're awake at last, Seda."

Tearing his eyes away from adjusting his gauntlets, he caught the eyes of a very familiar, wizened face.

"Simba?!" Seda asked, looking at the Fairy King in shock. "Are you the one that saved me?"

Simba gave him a calm, sympathizing look, lightly pushing Seda back down on the bed.

"Simba, please! I need to-"

"Shhhh!" Simba said, placing his finger to Seda's lips. "You'll find out in due time."

With that, he tapped his staff upon the floor, disappearing in a flash of white light, leaving behind a confounded Seda.

Unable to shake the curiosity and slowly opening the door to the hall, Seda then realized that he was inside the same shrine where he had witnessed the rebirth of the Dark Genie, but the entire shrine was empty, as he realized that Flagg was already dead due to the Genie leaving his body and Toan was traversing through the Gallery of Time to find the pieces of his memories that lead to the birth of the dark demon.

But who was the one that saved him from the brink of death and healed him up?

Seda paused; he was quickly approaching the opposite side of the room, and had not yet formulated a plan. He needed a way to find out who or what was the one that saved him. He had racked his brain and figured that it was Toan or any of his friends that saved him, but scratched it off his head.

Pushing it out of his mind with great difficulty, Seda sighed and opened the door leading to one of the guest rooms within the shrine, immediately seeing the raven-haired young girl from before leaning against the window, watching the sun rise. He saw his sword propped up against the wall on her side. It appeared she didn't trust him.

Quietly shutting the door behind him, Seda stepped into the room, trying not to alert her of his presence as he looked at her watch the rising sun. Although he couldn't see her eyes, he thought that they were the same color as Sophia's. As she continued looking at the sunrise, he cleared his throat, making her jump and look at him with an almost-identical pair of aquamarine eyes that Seda could've sworn that his heart leapt when he caught hold of them, but shook it off.

"Morning." He said, smiling at her.

"You're awake..." She said cautiously.

"I am now. Sorry about worrying you like that. I appreciate you trying to stop me, though."

"I'm sure you would have done the same."

"My name is Seda."

She said nothing. He noticed her eyes trailing to her coat, a small blush painting her face. Seda grinned before he realized something clicked in his head.

"You saved me?" He asked her.

She nodded.

"So, if you saved me." Seda said, shifting slightly against the wall as he tried not to get comfortable. "What's your name?"

"Xion."

"That's an interesting name." He said. "I've never heard one like that before. What does it mean?"

Xion considered. "In a way, it means I'm not real."

"That's not true." Seda said, looking at her. "You seem pretty real to me."

She said nothing.

"Anyway, there's something that I would like to get in Queens." Seda said, opening the door to the foyer as he felt one of his legs almost fall asleep. "You're welcome to come along."

"Can I trust you?" Xion asked.

"You can. But I will need my sword back."

She'd entirely forgotten about his sword. She quickly grabbed it and handed it to him. She was already fully dressed, save her large black coat. "Although, it doesn't surprise me. Nobody in Terra ever dressed like that. I assume you wear that to blend into the night?"

"You could say that." Xion answered. "I need new clothes, though. These have too many memories."

Good. She seemed to be loosening up. Perhaps he could figure out exactly what was going on.

"Where are you from, Xion?" Seda asked, looking at her.

She thought about it for a minute. "A kingdom far from here."

"Where at?" He asked. "I've been all over Blue Terra. Wherever it is you're from, I've probably already been there."

"Not this place. I can't really tell you, it's kind of hard to explain."

As they made their way past the headstone that was made out of a single rock after he saw the crippled and lifeless corpse of Flagg, Seda gently rubbed the mold off of the name etched into the face of the rock as he fought the urge to not cry.

'Sophia… I'm sorry for breaking my promise to bring you back…' Seda thought as he shut his eyes painfully.

"What's wrong?" Xion asked, noticing his expression.

Seda shook his head, getting up off the ground.

"Nothing." He said, looking at the grave one more time before they continued onward.

X~X~X

After a few years of nonstop traveling, the two finally reached Queens, Seda noticing the look in Xion's eyes at the sight of the ocean before he started heading into town. As they made their way into town, Seda tried his best to implicitly ignore the obvious stares from the town-folk as he strode with his regal air through Queens, immediately realizing that the townspeople were looking at his companion.

"It's this outfit." She told him. "I hate it. I just want to get out of it, as soon as possible."

Indeed, she could feel her strange clothes drawing the eyes of the townspeople around her. Every one of them seemed to be a screeching alarm announcing her presence to the Organization.

Seda nodded before he gave her a small, see-through bag of coins.

"Here. There's a clothing store somewhere in town. I'll meet you at the church."

Xion found the general store and stepped inside. It was empty, save for a shady gemstone dealer behind the counter, who was also giving her a death stare.

She quickly picked a black shirt, some travel clothes, and a dark cloak. She paid the gemstone dealer and ducked inside the bathroom to change. After shedding the only outfit she had ever worn, she pulled on her new clothes and stepped outside. The man at the counter was still staring at her.

Something was wrong here. It was only natural for her outlandish clothes to get her some looks, and being female would also guarantee some male eyes being drawn to her body, but this...

This was just creepy.

She quickly stepped outside. Almost as soon as she was through the front door, she heard the lock click behind her. The streets seemed to be empty now, and the sun was starting to set.

She breathed a sigh of relief. At least the townspeople were gone. She was about to head to the church located next to the unstable tower when her heart stopped.

"Hello, Xion."

X~X~X

Seda made his way over to a nearby water store, where he saw a bespectacled young woman, aptly named Suzy, getting her water barrels and jugs covered for the night.

"Hello. I'd like to have a bouquet of flowers, please."

"Alright, but you have to pay me." She said, looking at the fountain dreamily.

Checking to make sure that he had his money on him, Seda's heart stopped but he maintained composure. Xion had his Gilda! He would have to wait until she got back from her shopping.

"My companion has my money. I'll pay you as soon as she gets here." He said.

"Alright." She said, not taking her eyes off of the fountain.

Looking up at the blue sky, Seda unconsciously recalled the time that he almost lost consciousness after attacking Toan…

(Taken from "Chapter 7: According to Claude" of "Atlamillia" by Zerrat)

Seda burst into being in the tiny cave in which he had taken refuge, his magic burning from his body in foul waves. He stumbled forwards, falling roughly to his hands and knees, his entire body trembling from effort, from… fear? Sweat trickled down his brow as he took a heaving breath.

That power… what was that?! He gasped as he tried to crawl further into the warming mountain cave, but his muscles no longer seemed to obey his command. Futilely, he reached for Atonement's hilt before collapsing into a shaking heap.

Unable to move any longer, Seda lay there, a pathetic and defeated heap in the mountain caves. Not the way for a man of his position to behave, but for now, he supposed he could relax the rules… no matter how it set his teeth on edge.

Despite his envy of the child's possession of the stone that Seda dared to tempt fate and help the boy. He never knew when he might fall to the dark power inside him, but helping that boy, it was something. Something working towards his ultimate goal; atonement. Increasingly, it appeared that the boy's goals and his own were one in the same – perhaps, Seda had mused on more than one occasion, they could be considered allies. Grudging allies, of course, but…

He was hardly in a position to pick allies. This was a foreign land much different to his own; had the Dark Genie's attack truly reshaped so many of the lands? Even Nolun – a cursed name in his own heart – had changed so very much. But it was while he had been lurking in that town and placing useful items in chests, that he had felt it.

A killing intent, so intense Seda had recoiled and nearly revealed himself to the village's inhabitants. He had quickly discerned the location of the spike – a nondescript barn with a river flowing beside it. Sure of himself and his own power, Seda had walked forwards – and that had been when the magical recoil had hit him. Like a weight pressed at him from every angle, a light so bright he had been blinded and a song…

But all around him, none of the villagers seemed to feel that incredible power. His skin felt as if it were aflame, his eyesight faltering then flaring back up, that heavy weight pressing into his lungs and heart until he felt he must be on his knees, screaming for it to stop-

The boy snarled, driving the sax's serrated blade straight through Seda's heart.

Something shattered the nightmare, something lucid and good, yet laced with a seductive call as dark and as dangerous as the demon's blood had been for Seda. Then it, too, faded, and Seda looked up with a gasp. The tip of a sax had been thrust straight through the wooden exterior of the barn, and suddenly Seda had known. It had taken him a few moments to get his mind together enough to shadow walk, and there he was. Almost sobbing from the fear he had felt in that moment, that feeling of excruciating magical energy being directed solely at him.

He summoned the rest of his energy, and curling up into a tight ball, Seda's heart bled anew.

"Sophia…"

Seda's thoughts were cut off short when he saw a man wearing what looked like a police uniform, Wilder, run up to Suzy, gasping for breath as sweat dripped down his face and into his thick, black moustache that he proudly had on his face.

"It's her."

X~X~X

(Taken from "Chapter 3: Burn" of "The Persistence of Loss" by TrippyToasters)

Xion froze. She knew who it was just from those two words. She could recognize that voice anywhere.

"New duds, huh? You'll never learn, will you?"

She slowly turned around to face him. Green eyes and spiky-red hair. The black coat of the Organization. He stood there, leaning against the nailed door to the unstable leaning tower between the store and the church.

"You knew what would happen, yet you ran away again." Axel said. "I'm disappointed in you, Xion."

"H-how did you find me so quickly?" She muttered.

"Xigbar overheard your chat with Roxas." He told her. "Roxas is in hot water, but that's nothing compared to you. Saïx wants you dead. He told me to not even bother bringing all of you back. Just your head."

Xion was struck. Not only by the fact that Axel was here, but also by how unflinchingly he spoke of decapitating her.

He doesn't have a heart. Your death would mean nothing to him. Do not fool yourself into thinking that he's your friend.

"So, what?" She demanded. "Are you going to knock me out and take me back to them again? Just like you did in Twilight Town? Or are you going to kill me?"

Axel sighed. "Honestly, Xion? I'm not sure what to do with you right now. The Organization doesn't tolerate it when someone goes AWOL once. Your status as a Keyblade wielder was what saved you the first time. But after running twice? You know they won't let you live."

Xion took a step back. "I can't go back. I don't want to fight you Axel, but I will if I have to."

Axel laughed, stepping off the wall. "You think you can hold your own against me? How many times do I have to do this before you get the point, Xion? The Organization is all we have! It's not great, but it's better than nothing! And what little bit we do have, well you just keep throwing that away!" He approached her.

He's going to attack you. You can't beat him. You're not strong enough. You have to flee.

"But where...?" Xion whispered.

Seda can help you.

"What did you say?" Axel demanded. "Frankly, I'm in a pretty bad mood right now, Xion. It ticks me off that they keep sending me after you, and it ticks me off even more that you keep running in the first place. Do you have any idea how much I have to talk down Saïx just to keep you alive after all the crap you do? So if you have anything to say, say it now."

Xion summoned her keyblade.

Or at least she tried to. Usually there was a flash of light, and it appeared in her hand. But it never came. There was nothing.

"Oh, no..." She gasped.

Had she lost it again? No, that couldn't be it. The last time that happened, the flash of light would at least appear. But now, there was nothing... She was completely cut off.

"No keyblade, Xion?" Axel said. "That's fantastic. That'll help out so much when I try to argue you back into Saïx's favor. 'Yeah, she ran away, and she'll also useless to you, but you should still keep her alive for novelty value'."

In anger, she wished she could throw a fireball in Axel's face, but she couldn't even do that. She still didn't have any magic equipped. She had no keyblade and no magic. She was helpless. All she could do was back away from him.

Keep him talking. Draw his attention to a different topic. Stall him.

"Some friend you are!" Xion spat. "Mocking and threatening me! I guess all those smiles and jokes up on the clocktower were fake too, huh?"

"Oh, you don't get to go there!" Axel said. "I never welcomed you into that ritual! That was Roxas and I. That was our thing! I was actually jealous when I found out he was taking you up there! But I said nothing, because I'm such a nice guy!"

"Yeah, we can see that." Said a new voice.

They both turned to the newcomer. Seda was leaning against the archway, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Seda…" Xion said, shocked.

"So this is your friend, huh Xion?" Seda asked, not taking his eyes off of Axel. "The one you told me about? Yeah, he's a keeper."

"Who's this, Xion?" Axel asked. "Your bodyguard?"

"Maybe." Seda said, sizing him up. "Nice hair."

"Speak for yourself." Axel replied. "You and Zexion would get along well, you both have such bad taste."

"The sheriff has been expecting you, it would seem." Seda said, looking at Xion. "Apparently, this guy here has been using them as his eyes and ears."

"Seda… how much have you heard?" Xion asked.

"Enough to realize that you've been keeping things from me." Seda said, still not taking his eyes off of Axel. "But also long enough to see why you have. An 'Organization' that wants to kill you? I can understand why you don't want to advertise that."

"Beat it, native." Axel said. "You don't want to get hurt. Just stay out of our business."

Seda fixed him with a look that made his blood freeze.

"I'm making it my business."

Axel laughed. "I don't think you realize just how lucky you already are. I've killed people twice as strong as you without a second's hesitation. Put your sword away and get out of here."

"I may not fully understand the circumstances here…" Seda said, resting his hand on his sword. "But I do know that I'm not about to stand by and watch you drag this girl off to her death."

Axel's face twisted into an ugly sneer. "You think you can take me?" Xion could barely recognize her friend right now.

Seda's answer was bringing his blade menacingly towards Axel's chest.

The air seemed heavier from the tension. Realizing that things were about to get ugly, she began to back away from the two men.

"Go ahead." Seda said, glaring at him. "Let's see you back it up."

Axel stretched his arms to his sides and summoned his chakrams in a burst of fire. "Fine! If you want to die, then let's go!"

The assassin threw one of his firey chakrams at Seda, who rolled out of the way before it even came close to him. Axel brought the other blade upon Seda as he drew near, aiming for the warrior's throat. The warrior blocked almost contemptuously and twisted the blade around, sending the chakram flying out of Axel's hand. The other chakram came spining back like a boomerang, returning to Axel's outstretched hand.

Axel jumped back a few feet, and summoned his missing chakram to his hand in a small burst of fire. Seda reversed the cut and crouched down low, waiting for Axel to make the next move. The assassin did so, charged forward with fire bursting out of the ground around him, his chakram blades raised.

Seda quickly conjured up a shield of ice as soon as he jumped out of the way, separating him from Axel.

"Is that all you've got?" Axel laughed, blasting away the wall with fire. The ice shield melted in a pool of water.

But Seda was nowhere to be found.

"Where are you?" Axel shouted. "Have you run away?"

There was no answer. Seda was nowhere to be found.

Axel turned back to face her. "He ran, that coward. Now Xion, where were we..."

Axel was so occupied talking to her, he didn't notice the heavy sound of boots landing a few feet away from him and immediately running up to him. Xion's eyes went wide, and Axel noticed this.

The assassin spun around, but too late. Seda's fist connected with Axel's jaw, and he was sent flying into one of the fish stands, dropping his chakrams. The blades disappeared as they hit the ground.

Seda must've punched him hard, because Axel was no light weight. The impact was so hard that Axel spun around and fell to his knees, spitting up blood.

The warrior stood over him, his arms crossed. "C'mon, get up. We're not done yet."

Axel climbed to his knees, and wiped the blood on his chin on the sleeve of his robe. "You're stronger than I thought. I'm gonna have to get serious about this!" He summoned his chakrams back and they continued their battle.

X~X~X

As the fight raged on, the city of Queens got ripped apart. Soon the street was littered through with crushed rock, scorch marks, and half-shattered stone archways.

Xion had stood on the sides the entire time, watching the battle unfold. Unable to use both keyblade and magic, all Xion could do was get out of the way. She would have helped Seda fight if she had a weapon, but even is that had been the case, she might have hesitated. She wanted Seda to win, so she didn't have to return to the Organization, but she also didn't want to see Axel get hurt, despite the things he had said to her earlier.

But Axel didn't want to kill her. His wisecrack about convincing the Organization to keep her had been cruel, but it also revealed what was in his mind. He wanted her to live, but he also didn't want to defy the Organization. He couldn't turn on them like she had done. He was afraid of them.

Perhaps his attitude was because of the indecision he was in. He didn't know who to side with, and it was stressing him, pushing him to his limits. He was on the verge of a breakdown.

Xion then got an idea. Perhaps if she calmed Axel down, and just explained to situation to him, he could help her. He'd gone against the Organization before...

But there was a problem. How could she do this while he and Seda were fighting to the death?

She jumped aside in surprise as a fruit crate near her burst apart, struck by a fireball. Not for the first time, she wished she could do something to help. She felt so useless.

X~X~X

Seda and Axel had been at it for a while. They both were showing signs of exhaustion, and their clothes were slashed up and burnt at the edges.

The two fighters were almost evenly matched. Axel fought aggresively, using his chakrams and fire magic to attack relentlessly. Seda, on the other hand, fought defensively, counter attacking Axel whenever he slipped up.

Despite their equal skill, the balance of power was beginning to slip. Axel's attacks were becoming more desperate, and his mistakes more frequent, as the battle raged on.

The fight was pretty much over, and Axel realized this. Seda could read it in his eyes. The man was tired, breathing heavily, and could barely muster the strength to raise his weapons and block Seda's attacks. Seda was exhausted as well, but nothing like man in front of him. The guy was panting like a dog.

Footsteps crunched through the rubble as Seda strode confidently towards him, sword in hand.

The Nobody looked up as Seda raised his sword. A smirk played on his lips for a moment.

"SEDA, NO!"

He blinked. Xion had grabbed his wrist, which was in the air. He was holding his sword above his head, ready to swing.

The fight was over. Axel was on the ground, and his chakrams were gone. The assassin's angry, sneering attitiude was gone, and he was almost crying as he begged quietly to Seda. Begging the former King not to kill him.

Seda turned around to face Xion. There was a look in her eyes. Something between concern and fear. Her eyes were so blue…

Like he was seeing a part of Sophia in them…

Seda slowly sheathed his sword. He couldn't remember getting to this point. He couldn't remember enjoying the thought of murdering another human being. Not after Sophia had died in his arms.

He was constantly masking the pain. It was a constant struggle, not to let any of it out.

His lips trembled momentarily. A bit of the pain was seeping through the shield he usually kept up. He just couldn't help it.

Xion noticed this. The fear vanished from her eyes, only the concern remaining. She pulled him close to her, wrapping her arms around him.

She held him like that for a while. It had only been a few weeks, but he had almost forgotten what it felt like to be held that way. Time seemed almost suspended, but Seda was still aware of Axel's heavy, exhausted breathing.

Perhaps Xion realized that there was something wrong with him. A small part of him hoped this was true, but the rest was coming back to reality.

Xion finally broke the embrace. "Seda… are you alright?"

Seda didn't know what to say. So he just nodded.

She smiled. "Good."

Her strength gave out slightly and her eyes closed. Seda managed to catch her before she hit the ground.