Well, hello thurr!

We're on chapter...what is it now? 11? Yes...chapter 11.

I'm just blazin' through these, it's great.

I love having my inspiration back!

Maybe it has something to do with the copious amounts of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and cream cheese I've recently come into. Whatever...

A/N: One of my absolute favorite songs on repeat today! "Mien Schatz" by Oomph! (Ha ha... it's a German song/band.)

Disclaimer: My sister and I just had the conversation about what we would do if either of us did own Kingdom Hearts (which we don't) and let's just say it wasn't pretty. It would basically be a giant Yaoi orgy featuring the boys of KH and the better looking characters of the Final Fantasy series.

-cough- Reno and Vincent Valentine -cough- ...

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"Not ready"

Axel and Demyx walked back toward the marketplace now, hand in hand, to the small stand that sold cigarettes. There was a man behind the counter, large, burly and he looked irritated. Demyx strode up the the stand, asking for three packs of the strongest cigarettes available. Seeing the disapproving look on Axel's face, he changed the request to three packs of light cigarettes. Upon obtaining the goods, Axel and Demyx turned down an alley and went back to the Castle via the darkness.

Not much had changed since they'd left. Everyone was still on edge, some were still asleep and Marluxia kept shooting Saix nasty looks every time there was a twinge of pain in his arm. Demyx quickly unwrapped a pack of cigarettes, pulling out one long, thin cancer stick and put it to his lips, lighting it and inhaling slowly. The smoke slid down his throat, the menthol tickling a bit as it filled his lungs, the taste sticking to the back of his throat. He exhaled and looked at Axel through the cloud.

"I needed that." Demyx wheezed. Saix looked up from a nearby couch disapprovingly, but said nothing. Demyx swaggered over to the couch on the other side of the room and pressed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter into Vexen's hand.

"Zexion used to get my cigarettes for me..." Vexen said quietly, looking the pack over. Demyx nodded.

"I know." he whispered, taking a drag, blowing it out the corner of his mouth and away from Vexen. "I know."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The usual quiet stillness of evening settled on the remaining members of the Organization. Throughout the day, they had spread to other parts of the Castle, though never far from the safety of the common area. In fact, the only ones left in the low-lit room were Axel, Demyx, Saix and Marluxia, who didn't do much moving nowadays. He claimed the jogging motion of his steps 'irritated his condition'. Demyx watched Saix absentmindedly pick at the scab forming on his cheek from Luxord's shuriken while he wondered about the dear old gambler's condition. He was beginning to talk more and move, though anyone waiting for more than three words out of him might want to pack a lunch. Demyx thought about poor Zexion and the pain and sadness left in the wake of his destruction. He seethed with anger, wanting nothing more than to find the person responsible and tear out his (or her) throat. If only Zexion had stayed in his room that night...

"Oh!" exclaimed Demyx suddenly. "Saix!"

Saix looked at him strangely.

"Yes, Demyx?" he asked slowly. Demyx leaned forward, motioning for Axel and Marluxia to do the same.

"I remember why Zexion was out of his room the other night!" he said. Axel thought for a moment.

"Wasn't it because he wanted to see if Saix could use his freaky mind-reading powers to see if any member of the Organization was behind the killings?" he asked, and Demyx nodded. Saix sighed and shook his head.

"That absolutely couldn't wait till morning?" he asked solemnly.

"You know how Zexion was..." said Marluxia, the word 'was' resonated in the backs of all the minds in the room.

"Yeah but..." Saix shook his head again, still-stained pieces of hair falling into his face. "I can't control what I see and he knew that. You don't think I've tried?" he asked no one in particular.

"You gotta admit, it was worth a shot." commented Axel.

Many more hours passed as members of the Organization walked in and out of the common area, all scared, all on edge, all suspicious of one another. Demyx couldn't help thinking that this was no way to live, whether you truly 'existed' or not. Finally, night came and all settled in for more uneasy sleep, shoving each other and bickering over blankets. Demyx begged Roxas to take Axel's place on guard for the night, and reluctantly, he agreed. Demyx practically pulsed with happiness as he settled onto the couch with Axel, who lay longways so Demyx could lay beside him. Demyx laid down, facing Axel, who wrapped his arm around Demyx and pulled him closer.

"Thank you." Demyx whispered in the dim light and relative silence. They were on the couch furthest from Luxord, Xaldin and Roxas who kept watch, and everyone around them was asleep. Axel sighed, his eyes shining with admiration for Demyx.

"For what?" he murmured softly.

"For today." Demyx answered, looking over Axel's face, memorizing every crease and plain for the millionth time. He was positive that not even Axel was aware of that small freckle on the side of his head, just below his ear. The red-haired god laughed lightly, brushing the loose strands of hair from Demyx's forehead.

"You don't have to thank me, beautiful." he whispered, kissing Demyx gently. They sat for a moment in blissful, loving silence before Demyx looked to Axel with terror in his eyes.

"I'm not ready to die." he said quietly. Axel's face fell.

"You won't, sweety. I promise." he soothed, but Demyx shook his head.

"You can't promise that, Axel." he whispered fearfully. Axel's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I can. I promise that I'll protect you. Even if it means that I die, myself." he said sternly, putting more panic in Demyx's eyes.

"You can't die!" the sitarist said, a bit louder than intended, causing Xaldin and Roxas to stop chattering near the front of the room. Demyx winced, lowering his voice. "I'll have nothing left." he whimpered.

"But you will." insisted Axel, stroking Demyx's cheek. "You'll have yourself and that unbreakable will of yours."

"But I-..." began Demyx when a crash from the front of the room caught his attention and woke several of the sleeping Nobodies.

"Don't you ever fucking say that again!" shouted Luxord, pointing menacingly at Roxas whom he'd thrown into the wall. Saix sat up wearily in the bed he shared with Larxene, looking around to find the over-dramatic scene unfolding. He stumbled out of the bed and stood in front of Luxord, rumpled bed clothes and all, demanding to know just what the hell he was doing.

"That little punkass insulted my son! My dead son!" he spat, glaring at Roxas, who stood slowly, grabbing onto the wall for support and rubbing his head where he'd hit it, fighting tears of pain.

"So you threw him into a wall?" asked Saix.

"Yes, I threw him into a wall. You blame me?!" cried Luxord, who was clearly over-reacting. Saix sighed, shaking his head.

"I never should have signed up for this..." he muttered to himself. "Luxord, you're being irrational. I know this has been hard for you, but we're all trying to sleep..." he said as if talking to a small child and motioning to the Nobodies sprawled out on beds, couches and chairs behind him. "Now please, calm down."

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down!" Luxord shouted louder, this time waking Laxaeus and Vexen, who sat up irritably and rubbed their eyes. Saix raised both hands in surrender.

"No one's telling you what to do. I just think you should be calm. For the sake of everyone here. Please?" he said, again as if addressing one of low IQ.

"That's telling me what to do." Luxord sneered. He caught sight of Roxas attempting to stumble away from the wall on an ankle shattered from the impact with the wall, and roared "I'm not finished with you yet!"

Saix grabbed Luxord's wrist and held it tightly, putting the index finger of his other hand in Luxord's face like a mother scolding a child.

"Luxord, you're done. Go to bed." he commanded. Luxord narrowed his eyes, wrenching away from Saix's grasp.

"Don't touch me!" he cried, tears forming. Saix could tell he was just frustrated and tired. All the same...

"Luxord, I'm not gonna ask you again. Go lay down." he said sternly. "Please." he added, a bit softer this time. Luxord shut his eyes tightly, breathing slow to calm himself down.

"No." he finally said, though the anger had left his eyes. He regained his usual elite composure and stared Saix in the eyes. "Not here. Not with him!" he pointed at Roxas who had managed to limp his way over to a couch with the help of Vexen and Marluxia. He looked up at Vexen desperately, shaking his head as if to say 'I did nothing wrong'. Saix nodded.

"Alright fine. We'll keep you on separate sides of the room." he tried to mediate. Luxord shook his head.

"I'm going to sleep in my room. Mine!" he bellowed at Saix before turning on his heel and exiting the common area. Saix stood for a while, massaging his temples irritably as he listened to Luxord's departing footsteps. Then he turned to Xaldin.

"How'd you like to earn some serious brownie points?" he smiled weakly at Xaldin who sat irked on the bed. He looked to Saix, then into his lap, and shrugged.

"What do I have to do?" he groaned, quite obviously preferring the measly rest he was getting over whatever task Saix had prepared for him.

"There will be no reasoning with Luxord tonight." he said, pointing out the obvious. "So I need someone to watch over him."

"I'm not staying in a room with him all night." Xaldin growled. "He'll wind up throwing something at me."

"I'm not asking you to sit on top of him. Just stay outside the door and keep watch. Listen for anything suspicious inside." Saix explained. Xaldin frowned, pinching the bridges of his nose with large fingers.

"Fine." he agreed softly.

"Thanks." breathed Saix, relieved that someone was cooperating tonight. "Would you like someone to come stay on guard with you?" he asked. Xaldin considered this. With a brief glance around the room, he looked back to Saix.

"What about Larxene?" he inquired.

"Why her?" Saix asked. Xaldin lowered his voice.

"Because whatever malevolent force is inside the Castle will be warded off by her attitude." he mumbled. Saix grinned and called to Larxene, explaining the situation.

"I'm to babysit the babysitter?" she asked cockily. "What about the lesser Nobodies?" she demanded. An eerie quiet fell on the Organization when they realized that no one had seen even a hint of a Dusk since the Superior and Xigbar were murdered.

"Maybe it has something to do with the upsetting of the chain of command." Saix said out loud to himself.

"Whatever it is, it's freaking me out." Larxene murmured, speaking her mind on the issue for the first time. "We can't keep this up." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "And you know it. Find a solution, Saix. Tonight." her murmured plea weighed heavily on Saix's mind as he watched Larxene and Xaldin make their way down the hall to Luxord's room.

Saix slumped heavily onto the couch beside Roxas, who was rubbing his ankle, trying to make the swelling stop. Vexen was looking over it, shaking his head.

"What the hell did you say to him?" demanded Saix. Roxas looked up from his ankle at the man's golden eyes.

"I told him that Zexion shouldn't have betrayed your trust by telling the Superior about the girl. That's it! I was standing up for you!" he cried. Saix's eyes flickered away from Roxas, then back.

"You know that's a touchy subject with him..." he muttered.

"Yeah well the fucker didn't have to throw me into a wall." Roxas griped, returning to his task of rubbing out the swelling.

"I don't think Zexion told him..." Saix said truthfully. Roxas and Vexen leaned in, looking to Saix, knowing what he was going to say.

"So you think it was someone else? Someone in the Organization?"whispered Vexen. Saix nodded.

"I know it was."

While Saix and Luxord were busy fighting, and Roxas was crawling away with his injuries, Demyx had curled himself up beside Axel in fear. Not for himself, and not in that particular moment...but fear of knowing what was coming. It was far more than apparent by now that the Organization was falling apart. No one wanted to cooperate or look out for one another anymore. They were divided, leaderless and scared. And Larxene was right...where were the lesser Nobodies? Everyone could practically feel the malevolent presence, even if they would never openly admit that there were feelings that settled over them that would raise the hair on the back of their necks.

"Axel...?" Demyx whispered with fear.

"Yeah?" Axel whispered back. Demyx chose his next words carefully.

"We can't stay here." he said quietly. Axel said nothing, though he tensed against Demyx. "Please. Let's leave." Demyx begged.

"Dem, come on. Have some faith, alright? Saix is gonna fix this. We all are just..." Axel scrambled for words when Demyx pressed a finger to his soft lips.

"This is beyond Saix. Beyond any of us." he said truthfully. Axel again, said nothing. "You know it's true. Look at all of us!" Demyx cried. "We're all going to die if we stay here. I've been talking to Marluxia and Vexen. They agree with me." he said. Axel shot a dirty look in the direction of Vexen and Marluxia where they were tightly wrapping bits of fabric around Roxas's ankle to brace it.

"They don't know what they're talking about." Axel grumbled. Demyx propped himself up on one elbow and looked into Axel's shocking green eyes.

"You were saying the same thing just last night." he argued. So Demyx had been awake...

"Dem, I don't want to argue with you, okay?" Axel pleaded. Demyx frowned and placed a hand on the side of Axel's face.

"I don't want to argue either..." he whispered. "But I'm scared."

"I know you're scared. We're all scared. But we're going to be fine." Axel insisted. Demyx looked around the room, his eyes locking on the small group of Nobodies clustered on another couch. He sighed.

"Fine. But if anything else happens, you have to promise me that we'll get out of here." Demyx begged. "Okay?"

Axel stared into Demyx's eyes, finding a fire there that he wasn't expecting.

"Alright. We'll leave. I promise." Axel whispered, taking Demyx's hand and kissing it gently.

The promise did little to ease Demyx's troubled mind. It's not that he didn't believe Axel. He did, really. He just feared that the next time something did happen...it might be too late to get out.

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I never thought I'd get that damn chapter done.

I hated that thing.

Hated it!

I'm just at a point in the story where I want to end it the way I had originally planned to, but at the same time, I know it's going to disappoint a lot of readers.

Plus I've been busy with starting up other stories. Two-parters and another epically long one as well.

Maybe I should try focusing?
Ha.

Anyway...

Reviews?​