Warnings: The same ones that have been in all of these things.

Pairings: Established Roxas/Namine, Established Sora/Kairi, One-Sided (Though reciprocated hate) Larxene/Naminé, Implied One-Sided (Possibly Non-Consensual) Axel/Saix, innuendo all over the place.

Unravel the Heart

Chapter 6: Torn Pages

Immolation ~ Bifurcation ~ Desolation

The light of Kingdom Hearts cast an eerie, iridescent glow upon the brownish walls of the Castle, the gleam bright and vivid against the stark blackness of the space beyond. Naminé pursed her lips in irritation at the sight. Kingdom Hearts wasn't supposed to be here. It was supposed to be back in The World That Never Was, acting as a second moon to the odd world. It was not supposed to be floating overhead Castle Oblivion, and its presence here was a mystery they had yet to solve.

Nearby, Roxas sat on the ground while he gazed upward at it as well, silent and thoughtful. He had yet to say a word since he started staring at it, and Naminé was beginning to grow troubled by it. "A penny for your thoughts, Roxas?"

"No way. My thoughts are worth at LEAST a dollar."

Naminé walked over to him, knelt down, and slapped him across the face. "WHAT BITCH?"

Roxas decided he had better answer, and he had better do it quick. "Okay, sorry! I was just… thinking. Probably the exact same thing you're doing. How did Xemnas bring Kingdom Hearts here?"

"Well those thoughts weren't even worth a penny. They were worthless, because it's the exact same thing I've been pondering. Gawd."

Roxas contemplated beating Naminé with a stick, but decided against it. Instead he glanced over his shoulder at the rest of their comrades, who were seated about carelessly, doing nothing of particular interest. After the group had managed to navigate their way out of Castle Oblivion, the issue of Kingdom Hearts' presence was still a troubling one. Xigbar had instructed some time ago that they all wait outside the castle while he went to investigate the situation, but he had yet to return.

Needless to say, the group was becoming quite bored at all this waiting, and many of them wanted to rest, still quite wounded and exhausted from their battle with Xemnas.

And then Zero showed up.

"Hello everyone, good to see you all."

The suddenness of it all, along with the lack of any kind of dramatic, over-wordy indication of his arrival took everyone by surprise. Even you. You just don't know it yet.

Sora, who was still completely unharmed from having not fought Xemnas at all leaped to his feet and scurried toward the man with his Keyblade held high in his mighty stick-arms. Zero made to easily deflect the attack with his own Keyblade, but was suddenly shot in the back, taken by surprise. This surprise provided ample opening for Sora to swing with his blade, catching Zero against its blunt edge and smacking him roughly to the floor, a visible slice appearing on his body.

Sora looked up to see Xigbar hovering overhead, guns aimed at the wounded man. "Looks like I chose the perfect moment to show up."

Zero seemed to be getting to his feet, a less-than-entertained look on his face as he made a show of briskly brushing himself off. "That was most inhospitable of you."

"Cut the bullshit Zero. Every time you show up it's nothing but grief. Obviously you're feeling like spouting some more words to piss us off, like always, but I don't really feel like listening today." And without waiting for an answer, Xigbar opened fire immediately.

Zero glared as the bullets began to stream right through him, harmlessly, causing Xigbar to relent so as to avoid wasting shots. No point in firing when your target was just going to be a bitch and faze through everything.

"You know, I'm really not such a terrible person. You all just seem to take everything I do the wrong way. And here I was planning on hopping on over here to help you all out, and what do I get? A big heaping pile of 'Fuck You, Zero' apparently."

"Wow, did you seriously just use the sooooo cliché "I'm just trying to help you" tactic? That's really, really old." Marluxia said with crossed arms, pursing his lips and shaking his head at the man.

Larxene leaned casually against the Girly Assassin as she nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're kind of a stupid bitchwad, Zero. Anyway, we already took care of Xemnas so you're pretty much the only problem we have left. If we just kill you we can be done with all this bullshit and move on with our damn lives."

Zero looked around the circle of angry nobodies (plus Sora and Kairi) as they all readied themselves to kick his ass. Or so they thought. But of course, Zero is the central antagonist, so of course they aren't going to successfully do that.

Zero sighed. "Look, I'd rather we just expedite this whole confrontation issue, so I think I'll just say what I came to say – Kingdom Hearts is here because-" he didn't get a chance to finish before he was suddenly dodging away from some lightning bolts fired by Larxene. It was a tad surprising seeing her take some initiative against him for once.

"Thought we said we didn't want to hear it." She said, giving Zero her most apathetic expression. "Now shut the fuck up and die."

All humor seemed to have left Zero now, as he was pretty pissed off that he wasn't being allowed to speak. "My god you guys are boring. I thought we had this routine learned by now. I show up and say something cryptic. One of you tries to attack me and I easily avoid it. I taunt you, laugh, and then leave. It's very simple. You guys aren't sticking to the fucking program."

"Save your breath, bucko. I already know why Kingdom Hearts is here." Xigbar spoke up.

Zero looked upward at him, still quite irritated. "Oh?"

"Xemnas just used all the light he absorbed into his body to carve out a path through the darkness of the in-between, and then sent a bunch of Heartless here to Castle Oblivion for us to kill. As Roxas and Sora killed them all, little by little, all the freed hearts lured Kingdom Hearts through that pathway he made until it arrived here. It's pretty simple man, not a big giant issue."

Zero shrugged. "That is all correct. But you seem to be overlooking one thing. Those Heartless you were all destroying were the same variety you've been dealing with in all the other worlds as of late – the Soul Snatchers. Aren't you the least bit curious as to how Xemnas managed to assume command of them?"

Xigbar rolled his eye. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you're involved."

An exasperated sigh escaped the enigma as he threw his arms into the air in a frustrated fashion. "Yes, I was involved. I told them to go ahead and do whatever he wanted, and made him think he was just some kind of badass who could control them while you guys couldn't. All to lure you here and make you fight them and bring Kingdom Hearts to this location. Doesn't anything surprise you guys anymore?"

Xaldin spoke for the first time since Zero's arrival, making a "hmm" sound and nodding. "Well that last bit was a little surprising. So you are basically saying you wanted to bring Kingdom Hearts here as well, and so you used Xemnas, who in turn used us, to do the job?"

"Good, yes. That is correct Xaldin, and your surprise is acceptable. We're getting back on fucking track here."

"You seem so flustered today, Zero. You're normally such a cool, collected customer."

"I just get frustrated sometimes." He replied, facepalming a bit and sighing softly.

Xigbar also sighed, shouldering his weapons. "Alright. You got me, I'll bite. Why did you want to bring Kingdom Hearts here?"

Zero smirked. "And now comes the part where I don't tell you anything useful, laugh, and leave you all with questions."

Roxas swore loudly before deciding to "screw all this expository banter!" and summoned his Keyblades to him, charging at Zero. He knew well that Zero was capable of fighting him off, but he was damn well sick of the guy. However, before he could make much progress, he stopped dead in his tracks as a sudden, overwhelming feeling overtook his body.

All around him his comrades had vivid looks of surprise on their faces as they suddenly felt the oppressive new power that Roxas was also feeling. What the… he thought to himself, wondering where this power was suddenly coming from. It was darkness, extreme volumes of darkness that was flooding the area around the castle. Much to Roxas's surprise, even Zero's visible eye was wide with the feeling, this phenomenon apparently being something even he wasn't expecting.

And then right in the center of the large circle of nobodies (and Sora and Kairi), the air seemed to shift and bend for a moment, before a large, black portal sprang out from it, seeming to rip apart the air as it formed, most unlike a standard Corridor of Darkness. And from within this black portal, a man with dark skin emerged, waving his hand as the portal closed behind him.

And then all was silent as he stood there, calmly taking in the individuals around him.

"Is that… Zexion?" Axel broke the silence as he stepped forward a bit. "Yo, Zex, what's the deal?"

The man, assumedly Zexion, glanced up at Axel. "You will not address us by that name." Axel then stepped back, a feeling of uneasiness filling him as he was stared down by this man. Zexion then turned to face Zero, looking him up and down for a moment. "You parasite. Have you come to meddle further in our affairs?"

Zero's eyes narrowed. "Did you really do something so stupid, Zexion? I thought you were smarter than that."

"We believe it was just ordered," Zexion replied, waving his hand in a wide arc. A wave of darkness sprang forth in an arc as well, tracing the motions of his arm as it slammed into the circle of individuals around him, knocking them asunder, Zero included. "That you were not to call us by that name. We no longer possess such a trivial thing."

The Organization all began getting to their feet after the unexpected attack, now heavily on their guard around their aggressor. Zero didn't seem too phased by the action, but nevertheless stood ready. "Incredible. So you actually did something so stupid as to fuse with Xemnas. How absurd."

"What?" Sora asked, looking at Zero in disbelief. "Zexion fused with Xemnas? How did he do that? Why would he do that?"

"Contrary to popular belief, Sora, I don't have all the answers." Zero retorted. "I haven't the foggiest as to why Zexion would do such a stupid thing. But as for how, it's quite clear to me that he absorbed Xemnas's Soul Card into himself."

"But we killed Xemnas!" Roxas shot back.

"Clearly he anticipated that he might die. He must have given his Soul Card to Zexion for safe keeping."

"But that would mean…" Demyx, who was observing the proceedings with wide eyes, looked like he was going to cry. "If Xemnas gave it to Zexion… then doesn't that mean they were working together?"

"No way! He wouldn't have done that, he was our friend!" Kairi replied. "He helped us kill Xemnas to begin with, remember?" She placed a hand on Demyx's shoulder. "Xemnas probably found some way to deceive him, or maybe he even did something in the middle of that last attack of his! None of us could even see him!"

"It's amazing that you grasp so feebly at straws." Zero cut across Kairi's sentiments with a scornful laugh. "What's more amazing is that you ever even trusted him to begin with. Zexion has always been a snake, and has always been far more concerned with his own agenda than anyone else. Why is it so far-fetched for you to believe he would help Xemnas? Especially with the evidence standing right before your eyes. Zexion – no wait, he's being all uppity about that name, - Zexemnas here should prove my point just fine."

The man, ("Zexemnas") just snorted in apparent dry humor. "Zexemnas. Interesting. Fine, if you insist, we shall adopt that name. If you people so desire such a name to call us by, you have our permission to use it. Now…" Zexemnas turned away from them all and cast his gaze upon the floating moon that was Kingdom Hearts. "We are done wasting our time with you all. There will be time to squash you insects all soon enough. But first, we must seek a dominion that is suitable for one such as us."

As he spoke, he began to hover up into the air, arms spread wide as he looked upon the shining moon. "And our Kingdom Hearts… it will provide just such a dominion."

"So wait… you're going to take over Kingdom Hearts?" Marluxia asked. "I mean, I'm just trying to be clear on what exactly is going on here."

"Obviously." was Zexemnas's response. He then disappeared in a flash of light.

"Oh man!" Sora yelled loudly. "Does this mean we're gonna have to like, go into Kingdom Hearts and walk around and maybe have buildings thrown at us and other junk like that?"

"That sounds like it would be a pretty badass fight." Axel commented.

"Yeah, man, but I'm just so tired."

"This is totally unacceptable." Zero spoke up suddenly, crossing his arms and looking kind of irritated. "I just want you guys to know that. I'm really unhappy right now."

"What have you got your knickers in a twist over?" Xaldin asked.

"Just… this! This guy is stealing my thunder. I'm supposed to be the villain here."

"Wow," said Kairi. "I've never met a villain who was so bent on his status as such."

"Okay, that's a fucking lie and you know it." Axel shot at her. "Xemnas was CONSTANTLY going on about how evil he was."

"Actually, Axel, I'm pretty sure Xemnas never said two words about anything relating to good or evil."

"Yeah, but- Okay, yeah, but come on. I mean all the overdramatic speeches? Philosophical waxing on the nature of light and darkness? His desire to be all god-like and tyrannical? He might as well have been saying 'I R BAD' at any given moment!"

"While I do see the point you are trying to make," Kairi replied, shrugging her shoulders and giving him a sheepish look. "I just have to respectfully disagree with it."

"Okay, and I can respectfully call you a bitch!" Axel retorted.

"Actually, I don't think there's a respectful way to do that." Zero commented.

"Hey, shut up Zero, this doesn't involve you."

"Ugh, and THAT is precisely the problem!" Zero announced, throwing his hands up in the air sometimes. "Don't you all see? I'm supposed to be involved in everything. I'm the villain."

"And again," Kairi spoke up. "It's getting really difficult to take you seriously when you're making such an over exaggeratedly big deal about that fact. I mean, come on, who even does that? Calling yourself a villain?"

"I do that. I'm totally a villain." Larxene spoke up, still leaning casually on Marluxia's shoulder in a manner that implied she didn't give a fuck about anything. This was probably true.

"You're a special case and we'll deal with that later." Kairi said, making vague gestures with her hands at Larxene, her face very much conveying the fact that she was not in the mood for Larxene's shit right now.

"Well," Zero spoke again. "Maybe all this fuss I'm making is just a ploy to make you guys underestimate me. Maybe I'm lulling you all into a false state of security."

"If you were doing that, you wouldn't TELL us about it." Sora said, shrugging in a rational manner.

"Unless I'm just that good."

There was silence. Zero's smug grin was seen by all. Roxas's mouth made an "O" shape.

"In any case," Zero continued, once again seeming his cool-customer self, toying with a strand of hair in front of his face as he continued to smirk. "I think I've had enough fun. Thank you all very much, this has been incredibly entertaining. But alas, I do need to get back to that boring old work again. So I would advise you handle Xemnas's little remnant up there while I attend to my busy schedule. Also, as an afterthought, it's rather hilarious how easy it is to avoid a fight with any of you. All it takes is idle chit chat. Truly astounding."

Zero waved and smiled, and was gone in a rift of shadow. Sora looked up at the sky and swore very loudly and for ten minutes without stopping.

"HOW THE HELL DID WE LET THAT HAPPEN?" he finally exclaimed when he was through being a potty mouth.

Roxas seemed just as frustrated, wrenching his fingers in his hair as he ground his teeth together and released several frustrated grunts. "I don't KNOW, man! I mean, one minute we're all primed to take on Zero and beat the shit out him, and the next we're talking to him like some old friend and… gah!"

"He was right, we're really easy to distract. I'm pretty ashamed of myself right now." Marluxia admitted, shaking his head. "I mean we just… yeah."

Saïx, who had been completely silent up until now, just sighed. Loudly. "You guys are all idiots."

Axel and Roxas looked like they were about to cry. "Cummon Saïx, you don't mean that!" Axel cried emphatically, looking like his entire future depended on Saïx's answer.

"No, I do. I really, really do. You're fucking idiots."

Axel looked like a sword had been jabbed through his nonexistent heart, and Roxas immediately crouched onto the ground, drawing circles in the dirt and looking despondent. Naminé looked upon him with pity in her eyes. She knew. She knew how hard it was to be told something like that from your Homie Gee 360. She didn't know what she would ever do if Kairi ever said something like that to her. Not that Kairi ever would though. She and Kairi were tighter than tight. They were like a vice grip of friendship.

She had heard one time that Lexaeus had called Xigbar and Xaldin idiots one time, back when he was still alive of course, due to some stupid prank the two had played on him. As she remembered, Xigbar and Xaldin had been depressed for a solid week after that.

Suddenly a light appeared. Oh yeah, we're getting back to the plot now, and not all of this Homie Gee despondent silliness. Anyway, yeah, a light appeared. And it was bright and vivid, and Larxene immediately turned her face away from it momentarily, for she knew better.

Everyone else tried to stare at it and was momentarily blinded, because as we have established, they are all idiots. After a moment had passed and the blindness had worn off, a voice spoke from the light.

"You have all done very well in defeating Xemnas… but I fear that it is not yet done. There is something which you all must know."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold the phone. Who the hell are you?" Xigbar asked.

"Don't bother asking, she's just going to say it's none of our concern." Larxene answered. "This is the same disembodied voice that told me to go help you guys."

"A voice that persuaded Larxene to do the right thing?" Naminé exclaimed incredulously. "Color me interested. Voice, do go on."

"Yes… right." the voice responded. "You see, for some time now, Xemnas has been a conflicted individual. Deep within his soul, a battle between light and darkness has been waged again and again, with no end in sight. Or at least, it had appeared that that would be the case. But recently, the darker part of Xemnas had developed a ploy. He stopped fighting the light, and let the goodness in Xemnas assume full control. It was at this time that an agreement had been made with Sora, allowing the Organization to live and receive their hearts in exchange for giving up on their evil.

But the darkness had not given up. While it had refrained from warring with the inner light, it sought a different source. A Nobody, as you all know, is a fragmented being – a body and a soul, but no heart. In Xemnas's circumstance, the light in him had assumed control of the body and mind upon "winning" its struggle with the darkness. But while the light side of him was occupied as such, the darkness very slowly and quietly consumed his Soul Card. Eventually Xemnas's card was taken completely by the darkness, allowing it to make a comeback and take complete control. This is the Xemnas you all faced. The Dark Xemnas, who resolved to use Sora's efforts to rekindle his old plans for godhood.

The Light Xemnas was forced to watch helplessly as the Dark half went about his machinations, a prisoner in his own body. But there was hope. While he dreamt, he came into contact with me, and through our conversations, we developed a way to strike back. With my power, the Light half of Xemnas was able to leave small imprints on his Dark mind whenever the Dark half would sleep. These imprints would cause the Dark half to perform various actions subconsciously, with little thought for them. This culminated in Dark Xemnas absorbing the power of light into his body from Kingdom Hearts so that he could combat you all with it, forcing him to abandon the darkness in his body, sending it to Naminé instead."

"This is all very informative." Larxene spoke up. "But come on voice, we don't have all day. Get to the point."

An echo-like sigh was heard, and the voice continued. "Essentially, Dark Xemnas filled himself with light to give himself more power, without thinking about the fact that it would in fact allow light into his soul once again. The Light Xemnas caused him to perform these actions subconsciously, and so he did not realize he would be setting himself up for his own demise."

"But he isn't dead. He fused with Zexion." Demyx pointed out. Everyone looked at him in surprise, apparently shocked that he had managed to make an intelligent observation. But come on guys, Demyx is kinda smart. Kinda.

"Yes." The voice replied. "We hadn't anticipated that. Dark Xemnas's mind was not one with Light Xemnas, and so we could not completely know his thoughts. We had no idea he was planning on such a gambit. But alas, we may be able to save Zexion, as well as put a stop to Dark Xemnas once and for all now. You see, there was a purpose in tricking Dark Xemnas to welcome light into his body and soul. Even though he has died, those traces of light have allowed me to hold pieces of him together. As we speak, I am working on rebuilding those pieces back into the fragmented body of a Nobody, but this time, with only the Light Xemnas behind the wheel."

"So basically," Marluxia drawled out, trying to make sure he was following. "You're saying you can bring Xemnas back to life, but as a good guy, and he can help us go beat the shit out of his bad half, which has fused with Zexion presumably against his will?"

"Essentially."

"You couldn't have just said that to begin with?"

"I assumed you would want a valid explanation for how it was possible so that no one would call Nonsensical BS on my actions."

"For the record," Larxene pointed out, "I think it's kind of nonsensical BS that you're here to begin with. I mean you're a nameless, disembodied voice who is apparently bent on helping us, but you refuse to share any information about yourself. Not to mention that you're saying you have the power to bring someone back to life with the light, which would imply that you're some kind of big deal? You're basically like a giant deus ex machina for our whole situation."

"All will be revealed in due time…"

"That is such a BS answer, too."

"Larxene, I must warn you," the voice admonished. "You are beginning to sound like Vexen with all your bitching."

There was a collective "Ooooooooh" throughout the crowd, and Xaldin could distinctly be heard saying "Oh snap!"

"Look, if you really want such a non enigmatic answer, at least accept this of me: I am a strange but helpful mystery person who is sincerely just trying to help you all, for the sake of all the worlds. I also have to stay mysterious for a very good reason, which you'll just have to trust me on, okay?"

"I do not know you, at all, so why the hell should I, or any of us, trust you?"

"Because I'm going to help you defeat Zexemnas. By the way, that's a pretty silly name you gave him."

After a lot more arguing from Larxene, it was eventually decided upon that the voice knew what she was talking about and should be obeyed at all costs. Okay, perhaps not that exactly, but everyone decided to be more or less cooperative, which was really saying something for them.

"But one condition, mysterious voice." Marluxious was more serious than ever as he addressed the giant glowy light. "Larxene says you gave her some Apple Custard Pie. I want some, or else we're not doing what you say."

"The Apple Custard Pie is sacred! It is not something I can simply hand out so easily!"

"PIE OR NO DEAL."

"You're absurd!"

"PIE."

"Ugh. Fine. I shall offer you but ONE Apple Custard Pie, and you will divide it among your group."

And so it was that a glorious Apple Custard Pie appeared, and it was sliced thinly so that all could partake. Except Larxene, because she got to eat a whole one already. However, she just stabbed Demyx and stole his. He cried about it, but no one really cared other than Kairi.

"Now that that's out of the way…" Saïx addressed the Voice, stony calm still in place even as he writhed in ecstasy at the taste of the pie in his mind. "What exactly is our objective? You say you can resurrect the Light Xemnas, and he will help us defeat Zexemnas and eliminate his darker half. But how do we go about accomplishing all of this?"

"Zexemnas is within Kingdom Hearts at the moment, amassing the power of all the hearts contained within. He also has access to all of the doorways to hearts of other worlds from within. If he is left to his own devices, he will be able to travel these pathways and take the hearts of one world at a time, sending them into the darkness and gaining immeasurable power. To prevent this, I will send you all into Kingdom Hearts after him – he will not be able to go and attack the other worlds as long as you are there in his domain to keep him occupied."

"So we're playing distraction, wonderful." Larxene remarked sarcastically.

"It is a vital task. You have no idea just how powerful Zexemnas is – not a one of you could possibly defeat him on your own, and even as a collective, you will not succeed unless the power of Nothingness is also on your side. This is why you need Xemnas. And this is also why for the time being, you will be able to do little other than supply him with a diversion. But do not despair. Once you are inside Kingdom Hearts, the light of the Keyblades held by Roxas and Sora will resonate with the hearts that lay dormant within. Using the power of those hearts, Sora and Roxas will be able to amass them into a suitable pool of light, which I will be able to use to piece Xemnas back together."

"So our mission is to keep Zexemnas occupied while the Keybearers help you with Xemnas." Saïx deadpanned the short version. Really, this voice talked far more than was necessary. "And after he's been revived? What then?"

"At that point, Xemnas will assume command of his Organization. The battle will be in his hands."

"So that's basically like saying you don't know, right?" Larxene asked apathetically.

"I do not. The defeat of his darker half is something that only Xemnas could know. I can only take you all so far."

"Fine then." Saïx answered. "Take us into Kingdom Hearts then."

The gathering of warriors all seemed as though they were, more or less, ready to go, some of them still tired, but thanks to some of the partial healing they had received earlier, one more fray wasn't totally out of the question.

"Very well." was her phrase of acquiescence.

It took only but a moment, and another blindingly bright flash of light, and the group could feel that they had moved. As the spots faded from their vision, they found themselves standing on roads of dark, deep purple concrete. Looking around, the ensemble was surrounded by giant buildings of blackest pitch, their high, pointed heights twisting and contorting into odd curls and knots as they reached for the shroud of deepest violet that seemed to function as sky. The city, for lack of a better word, which surrounded them was somewhat similar to the city in The World That Never Was, which they were all quite familiar with. However, if possible, this place was darker, more twisted, the buildings were taller, and there were no windows or lights. In fact, the entire realm seemed to lack any visible light source, and yet the entirety of the landscape was visible all the same.

Off in the distance, a tall, pointed castle stood ominously over the distant buildings. More unsettling still was the activity above the castle – hearts, numbering in the probable thousands, danced in streaming pathways across the sky overhead, flowing into the various pointed spires of the castle and disappearing.

"They are being drawn in." the enigmatic voice spoke up, still present with them all here within Kingdom Hearts. "He is going to use those hearts to open the doors. You must stop him before that happens. He is, as I'm sure you must have guessed, waiting within his Castle for the hearts he has gathered to be sufficient. You must go and intercept him immediately."

Not wanting to waste time arguing, they nodded their understanding before setting off one by one, Sora and Roxas staying behind with the Light Voice. However, before Marluxia could head off as well, she called to him.

"Marluxia, please, a moment."

The Assassin stopped and turned to her, covering his eyes at her shine. "What? We aren't exactly long on time."

"I am aware. But there is a grave matter I must discuss with you. Sora, Roxas? I will need to speak with Marluxia alone, so please begin your tasks while I do so. Use the Keyblade to guide the streams of hearts overhead away from the Castle, and redirect their flow to me, please."

"Awwww. Alright…" Sora agreed with a pout on his face, clearly upset that he was not allowed to listen in on this private affair. Roxas looked like he was also sulking, but that was probably still from Saïx calling him an idiot. He nodded wordlessly and wandered off with Sora to set about the task of rerouting those pesky, wayward hearts.

"What is it?" Marluxia asked, once the boys were out of earshot.

"It is not at my pleasure that I tell you this, Marluxia. You are doomed to die."

"What!" he exclaimed in surprise, not exactly expecting that sort of declaration.

"I am afraid it's true. When Zero resurrected you at the Altar of Souls, he never intended for you to be given a full, lasting life. It is unfortunate, but the individual who conducts the ritual is able to use their own discretion in regards to the life span of the subject, to varying degrees. If Zero had poured much of his energy into your card prior to resurrection, you would have been fully revived to a normal life. But Zero only used a portion of his energy in doing so, and thus limited your time."

"What… I…. how much time do I have?"

"It's not a definitive amount, unfortunately. I couldn't tell you exactly how much time you have left. What I can tell you is that as time advances, you will slowly begin to wither. It will be as if your body is deteriorating at a minute pace until finally you die."

"So I suppose…" Marluxia's head hung as he spoke in a solemn tone. "My only purpose was to warn the others about Xemnas. With that purpose fulfilled, I am doomed to simply die once again."

"Your death will be inevitable. I am sorry. But… there is one thing we can do, to make the most of the time you have left."

Marluxia looked up (slightly, so as to avoid looking directly at the light, because he wasn't silly guys). "Oh?"

"I can provide you with a card that will extend your Life Force, allowing you to live past the limited clock Zero has set for you. It will not be an especially long time – at most, I can speculate that the Card will increase your Life Expectancy by a year. But only at most, and in all likelihood, it will probably be much less."

"I don't quite understand."

"My apologies. The card I am going to give you will allot you one year's worth of life, simply by possessing it. However, the card is also a container for a vast amount of energy – energy which you could use to obtain levels of strength you may never have thought possible for you before. But the catch, Marluxia, is that by using the energy the card will afford you, you will also decrease the amount of time you have left for each use. The time that is knocked away from your life expectancy is directly proportional to the amount of power you use from the card. And I fear that in coming times, you will need to use this power extensively."

"So essentially…" The Graceful Assassin turned away from the bright light and stared at the sky, at the hearts whose paths were changing now, heading in their direction. "My days are numbered no matter what I do. If I accept your offer, I will succeed in giving myself only a little more time than I would have had left."

"This is correct."

"Fine. I accept your offer. If I am to die, I will at least maintain a purpose. This power you speak of will surely allot me such a purpose."

"Very well then. Accept it now!" and as she called the command, a new light formed in front of Marluxia, bright and glimmering for just a brief moment before it settled into a small, silver shape. A card of polished steel. "That is it. Keep it with you, and its power is yours."

"I have a question." Marluxia stated as he held the item between two fingers and stared upon it. "If this card can grant the user great strength, why not give it to someone who isn't in imminent danger of death?"

"Surely you must have guessed that. From the moment you use this card, your life will be signed to it. It matters not who would use it,"

"They would die all the same. So you thought you'd give it to the guy who was going to die anyway."

"…I am sorry."

Marluxia didn't answer. He simply tucked the card away and exited the area, racing off to join his comrades in their attack on Zexemnas's castle.

What is a Man?

"We asked for a game-changer, and it seems we most certainly got one." DiZ remarked with a bit of a sour expression, sitting lazily in his seat, ignoring his computers for once. There was really nothing left for him to do now, and he was in far too foul a mood to worry over his puppet hobby.

Zero seemed equally as displeased, or at the very least, he wasn't smirking or grinning as he usually was. "It is a larger challenge than I had anticipated." he agreed thoughtfully. "In fact, this sets me back a great deal."

"This Zexemnas fellow," DiZ spoke with a derisive snort at the absurd moniker. "He has seized control of Kingdom Hearts from us. It is more than a set back, Zero. It reduces nearly everything to ruins."

"Would you relax? True, a good deal of our efforts have essentially been tossed aside thanks to this nonsense. But the situation isn't entirely unsalvageable."

"I'm aware of this. But I do believe a man is permitted to sulk a bit when he sees fruitless ends to his means."

"I suppose you're right. At the moment there is little we can do other than hope the fools can kill him. Loathe as I am to admit it, he's far too powerful for me to handle on my own. But that meddlesome emissary is lending her aid to them, so it shouldn't be long before he's dead. When that time comes, we will simply have to take some extra care in laying out a more distinct path for our pawns to follow."

"Not to mention nursing Kingdom Hearts back to health. It is surely going to suffer dire wounds as a result of this fiasco."

"It is but one of the great hearts, however. The Kingdom Hearts of Men is not a difficult one to heal. We will simply need to supply it with more hearts. The Soul Snatchers can see that task accomplished with relative ease. The Kingdom Hearts of Worlds is still quite healthy and untouchable as of present. However, if our daring heroes are unable to defeat Zexemnas soon enough, the hearts of the worlds will come under harm. Only then will we have ourselves a problem."

"And therein lays the worry. We are forced into dependence upon that pitiful Organization to ensure that all our plans don't fall apart…" DiZ seemed thoughtful for a moment as he rested his chin upon his fist, staring out of one of the windows of his ivory-white tower to gaze upon the shifting folds of darkness of the realm beyond. Then he smiled. "But I believe I may have a solution to our worries."

"Oh?" Zero raised an eyebrow in intrigue as DiZ suddenly stood from his seat and bustled over to his computer with seemingly renewed vigor. "And what would this miracle solution be?"

"We are apprehensive about believing in the strength of our "heroes", as well we should be. But what if I were to supply them with some aid? The situation would no longer be entirely in their hands. Additionally, I have completely forgotten that they have yet to learn I am working with you; they'd be perfectly willing to accept help that I offered."

"I fail to see how this solves all our problems. What can you do that will provide such a boon to them?" Zero asked, still rather interested despite his words.

"I have data on each of them stored in my systems, valuable combat data that can even replicate their strengths in simulated environments. With this data, I can construct a set of specialized weapons with enhanced properties for our dear friends to use."

"Weapons that could enhance their performance in battle? That would be helpful, wouldn't it? It would certainly improve the odds of defeating Zexemnas."

"Ah, but that is not all. While they make use of these weapons, they would allow me to continually gather data on them for each use." The scientist chuckled in controlled mirth as he scanned over the information he was pulling up, various images of weapons and bar graphs detailing specs and what not scrolling across the screen far too rapidly for any normal mind to process them. "Eventually, the data I gather from their continued usage will allow me to know each of them in and out, near flawlessly. They will cease to be a worry when the time comes for them to inevitably face us."

"And I suppose there's no worry of those weapons of yours being used against us eventually?"

"Naturally. A scientist would never allow his tools to be used against him. When they have fulfilled their use, I can simply delete them and rob the Organization of their boon."

"That sounds like a splendid idea. Well, whenever you're ready then, I'll be happy to open up a gateway into Kingdom Hearts for you. The weapons won't be a great deal of use if you are unable to deliver them."

"Well, while you wait for me to get things prepared, why don't you go and look for "Ansem"? I haven't seen him about lately. He is a servant and must be kept under heel."

"Mister Slave driver." Zero replied with an eye roll. "Fine. I'll go and find him, but I expect things to be ready when I get back."

"It won't take long."

Zero chose not to answer as he turned and stepped over to the window DiZ had been peering through. Here was the one shining beacon in an ocean of darkness. Their new home away from homes, as it was, in the one place where none could follow freely. It was here in the deepest shadows of the Realm of Darkness where DiZ had built their stronghold, a tall, shining White Tower. It stood in immaculate pride, overlooking the endless expanse of shade and umbra. In this stark location, only those whose hearts were fully immersed in the darkness could come to enter. This realm was bereft of the light.

Zero stood on the window sill as his eyes traveled the dark waves, finding only multitudes of Heartless that scuttled about the shadows as though they were rolling cozily in the sheets of an oversized bed. Zero leaped from the sill, his heels barely scraping against the sides of the tower as he plummeted downward. Twin Keyblades appeared in his hands then, which he aimed behind him to drag along the tower walls as well, slowing his plummet to an easy slide. As he approached the bottom, he suddenly kicked off the walls and performed an acrobatic somersault, landing gracefully on the mucky darkness which functioned as floor. A nearby Heartless held up a sign with a "10" on it. Zero thanked it. And then he set off to search the darkness for Ansem.

Apathy ~ Entropy

It had been a surprisingly uneventful trip through the castle thus far. The Organization had passed through the large, foreboding city without issue, having no minions or underlings that needed facing, and had even found the castle doors unguarded. If anyone had to estimate, they had probably managed to scale about half of the structure before opting to take a rest. Quite inconveniently, they also found that Corridors of Darkness did not seem to work within the Castle, forcing them to scale it the old fashioned way as opposed to simply teleporting through it to reach Zexemnas.

Larxene had a few choice words to share in regards to that matter, but I will choose not to share them with you.

"Alright, does anyone else require a juice box?" Saïx asked the group, who were all sitting and resting on the landing of a large staircase. This castle had way too many stairs. Saïx had taken it upon himself to doll out juice boxes to everyone.

"I would like one please." Kairi raised her hand, happily accepting the sugary drink and sipping at it as soon as she managed to jam the straw into its vulnerable orifice.

"Ya know, Kairi, don't take this the wrong way," Axel said, sipping at his own juice box. "But why are you and Naminé even here? I mean, you're great to have as an assist or backup with your Holy magic and stuff, but you usually need Sora to protect you, and he's not here. And Naminé was only ever useful in battle while she had her Heathen Magic, but seeing as she lost her spell book, that's no longer really a thing. So… isn't it kind of a liability to have you guys here?"

Kairi gave Axel a blank stare, and within her sarcastic gaze was every condescendingly demeaning insult to intelligence known to man. "Axel." she said, putting her juice down. "Holy magic is always useful. But that is not my main point." she then stood up and held her hand out. The Destiny's Embrace Keyblade appeared. "My main point is that I can also do this." she then gave Axel a sound smack to the head with the blunt of the weapon, causing him to yelp in pain. "Do not question my might. You do not want to see the day Kairi loses her shit." she warned, and for good measure, looked all around the circle to make sure the message had been received.

Everyone looked slightly uneasy. Except for Larxene, obviously. She just looked possibly aroused. Naminé then spoke. "And just for the record, Heathen Magic wasn't the only thing I was good at. I can cast Holy, too. Also, I've never really tried, but I can theoretically wield a Keyblade, you know. Besides, my drawings cause crazy things to happen too, so there's that."

"Bottom line is that we are useful." Kairi made sure to point out. No one argued.

As this was going on, a Corridor of Darkness opened, and everyone was seriously about to go crazy about it. But then out stepped DiZ, arms behind him and looking composed as usual.

"Greetings."

Kairi and Naminé both jumped up in glee and ran forward, giving DiZ a giant hug. He smiled and returned the hug in a grandfatherly fashion.

"DiZ!" Kairi yelled.

"We thought you were dead!" Naminé cried out as well, sounding sad.

DiZ looked quite shocked. "Why, what ever would cause you to think that?"

Both girls looked up at him with large, adorable eyes. "Zero told us! He said you were long gone and we thought the worst!"

DiZ breathed a sigh and shook his head. "Ah yes, him. I've had my hands full dealing with him over the last several days. He's certainly made a point of keeping me in check. No doubt his words were meant to mislead you and steer you into a false state of despair. I assure you girls, I have been spending my time trying to avoid him and stay out of his clutches. I have only just finally managed to lose him for the moment, and decided to come and offer my aid while I could."

Kairi and Naminé jumped up and down and cheered, while the rest of the Organization all stood and prepared to inquire as to the nature of this 'help' DiZ spoke of.

"The last time you offered to help us, you gave us that Kingdom Card and tipped us off on the whole Zero thing." Xigbar pointed out. "And now he's apparently been hassling you. I don't really like you, old man, but none the less you did us a solid. You sure you want to offer any more help? You'd be sticking your neck out further for us."

"That was a surprisingly decent sentiment, Braig." DiZ replied, not coldly, but not warmly either. "But I openly discourage any worrying over me that you feel the need to do. I can handle myself with no trouble. Now then, what I would like to offer you are these." DiZ then produced a small deck of cards from behind his back. Because cards are all over the place in this story. "The enemy you are preparing to engage must certainly be stopped, lest he tamper with the fabric of the worlds, but as you are now, you stand little chance of defeating him. These cards contain powerful new weapons that I would have you all wield, made from combat data I have gathered on you all in the past. They will act to greatly enhance your powers and abilities, and with their aid you may be able to defeat that accursed Nobody."

"New weapons? Awesome." Larxene immediately reached for the deck and snatched it from DiZ's hand, rifling through the cards until she found one displaying a picture of some awesome-looking throwing knives. She then plucked that card out of the deck and carelessly tossed the rest of the cards behind her, where they scattered on the floor.

Everyone cursed loudly at her. Saïx then sighed and stooped down to pluck up the cards, handing them out to their respective recipients. "How do we apply these?"

"Simply summon your weapons and place the cards against them." DiZ instructed. "They will naturally absorb the advancements. Now I'm afraid I cannot linger. There is still much I must do to keep Zero occupied and on his toes. I wish you all the best of luck." DiZ then gave Naminé and Kairi each a pat on the head before he turned away and absconded through another Dark Portal, which closed soundly behind him.

Demyx frowned. "How is he always able to summon those in situations where we can't? It really bothers me."

"Cry more, bitch." Larxene replied absently, eyeing her fancy new knives (having wasted no time in applying the upgrade to them).

The other members shrugged and followed her example, noting the changes in their weapons with approval as they upgraded the items one by one. There were a few cards remaining in the deck – a card depicting a shield, one depicting an Axe Sword, another showing off a glowing blade, another which bore the image of more cards, and two which displayed Keyblades. Saïx tucked them away for later use, assuming any of them got to see such use. After all, two of the recipients for those cards were dead, one was only possibly coming back, one was completely missing in action, and the other two were busy. He also noted that there hadn't been a card for Zexion.

"Shall we advance then?" Saïx asked.

"Not without us!" Roxas shouted, who could now be seen running up the stairs. He arrived at the landing and stooped over, out of breath. "Woo. That was quite a run. Saïx, can I have a juice box?" he asked.

Saïx quickly handed him one. "Where is Sora?"

"Oh, he's not coming. He's staying behind with that Voice to make sure the hearts keep circulating to her and not to Zexemnas."

"Then who did you mean by us?" Axel inquired.

"He meant me." A familiar face crested the stairs, arriving at the landing calmly to stand beside Roxas.

"Xemnas!" Marluxia shouted and prepared to swing his scythe.

"No idiot!" Roxas yelled, stepping in front of Marluxia. "This is the good Xemnas! The one who made the truce with Sora and later got taken over by his dark side! Weren't you paying attention to what the voice said AT ALL?"

"Bits and pieces." Marluxia admitted, putting his scythe away. "Well okay, so this Xemnas isn't trying to kill us."

"Yeah."

Xemnas cleared his throat. "I do feel the need to point one thing out to you all however. I am not the good Xemnas. I am the light Xemnas. There is a difference."

There was something of an uneasy silence. "What exactly does that mean?" Kairi asked.

"It means that calling me "good"," he explained with a few unnecessary waves of the arms. "Is a bit of a stretch. I plan on maintaining our truce, yes, and putting a stop to those who might harm the worlds. But I am not going to be your friend."

"So in other words, we're basically going to have our old, bossy, somewhat father-like Superior back." Demyx rationalized. He certainly was making good, smart points today.

"Indeeeeeed."

"I can live with that." Xigbar stated. "Not like he ever acted that way to me. Yo Xemnas, drinks later?"

"Indeeeeeed."

"I'll be joining you for those drinks." Xaldin added.

"Indeeeeeed."

"Please stop saying "indeed"." Naminé instructed. "Anyway, we do need to go kick your Dark Half's ass now. So can we go?"

"Young lady, do not take that tone with me." Xemnas glared. Naminé backed down. "Now then, let us go and kick my Dark Half's ass."

And so the group cheered and proceeded to head up the remaining stairs. Saïx handed Xemnas his weapon upgrade, but Xemnas threw it aside, not caring about it.

Drok Sid

They had arrived. Yes, already. It wasn't a very eventful trip up the remaining stairs. It was simply a bunch of stairs and a door at the top of them. When the door had opened, they entered the newly located room.

It was rather dark. Dimly lit, one might say. And long; the room looked more like a giant hallway than a simple chamber. And at the end of the long hall, sitting on a throne fit for a King in the dim glower of the chamber was Zexemnas. He sat at ease, one leg crossed over his knee, his cheek resting against the fist of his arm, which was in turn propped against the arm of the throne. His other arm was draped over the throne's second arm, at ease as well. And his eerie, golden eyes stared at his new guests from beneath low eyelids, incredibly relaxed and yet vivid in their intensity.

"Xemnas." he spoke. Where before he had only spoken with a singular pitch, this time his words seemed to be spoken by two voices at once. "We are mildly surprised to see you standing before us."

"I warned you that you would fail." Xemnas replied calmly.

"And yet here we are, on the verge of success. All that remains is to clear away the pests that hinder us."

Zexemnas very slowly moved to get up from his throne, taking careful, languid motions. His eyes were closed as he stood to his full height, breathing out audibly.

Xemnas did not need to look to see that his Organization was readying their weapons for battle. "Roxas." he spoke.

"Yes?" Roxas replied, glancing at Xemnas while trying to keep his focus on the enemy across the hall.

"None of us, in our present states, possess what is necessary to defeat him. Would you do me a favor and fuse with me?"

"Wait, WHAT?"

The others seemed to be surprised by this as well. Xemnas was unfazed. "Merely temporary. I no longer possess any darkness, and you are a being of light. We are compatible, should I offer you my Soul Card. As a fusion, we will be able to defeat Zexemnas. But care will need to be taken to only maintain it for a brief time. Should we tarry too long in a merged state, it will become irreversible."

"Um, wow. Xemnas, that's quite a lot to take in all at once."

"I'm afraid we have little time for debate."

Zexemnas opened his eyes finally, staring humorlessly at his opposite. "How foolish of you. The boy puts his precious individuality on a higher pedestal than anything else. He will not be able to fully commit himself to such a union. Your link, should you create one, will pale in comparison to us."

Xemnas placed his hand on his chest, and after a moment, a card materialized in his palm. He handed it to Roxas. "Time is of the essence."

Roxas stared at the Soul Card, black in color despite the absence of darkness from it. He looked around for support, but only got confused, unsure looks from his comrades. Then he sighed. "The voice lady said we should trust your plan of action once you were back. So I guess…" Roxas placed the card against his chest. It lit up, and he clenched his eyes shut at the strange feeling.

Xemnas disappeared as the card faded into Roxas's body, and moments later was engulfed in a pillar of light. Another moment and the pillar had faded. Roxas stood, much taller than he had been before, and with darker skin, much the same as Zexemnas. His hair still held its typical style, but was a bit longer, making it appear more pointed. It also sported a pale, barely blond color to it, and his eyes held the same gold color as Zexemnas's. Where Zexemnas wore a cloak of intermingling black and white, Roxas simply wore a pure white robe.

He turned to face his comrades. "Xemnas is giving me instruction from in my head, but we aren't totally joined or anything. I'm still me." he said, particularly to Naminé, who looked worried. "So you can still call me Roxas guys. Don't invent some stupi-"

"Dude, we're totally calling you Roxem." Xigbar said.

Roxem (yes, Roxem) looked agitated. "Please don't."

"Shut up and go rock 'em, Roxem."

He sighed and groaned in despair, but then abruptly summoned two glowing, red Keyblades and rushed at his enemy. Zexemnas glared and summoned a very long, pale-violet blade, which he used to deflect the incoming dual attack, utilizing some very fancy footwork as he easily blocked the incoming assaults from both weapons.

"It is just as we said. Without a full union, you cannot hope to defeat us. Having Xemnas whisper commands and instructions into your ear won't help you defeat us." Zexemnas chided as he knocked Roxem away. "Your reaction time to receiving those commands is far too slow. Unless your thoughts exist in sync with his, you cannot outflank us."

Roxem glared as he readied another attack. "Shut up!"

"He still has numbers on his side!" Demyx cried as he suddenly took the offensive, summoning a stream of highly-pressurized water to jet at Zexemnas. The fused nobody quickly countered by waving his sword in an arc, creating a barrier of energy to send the water away.

Xigbar and Xaldin were quick to follow up the assault with a rain of projectiles, however, forcing the man to roll his eyes and lift his hand up, blocking them with a mystic shield. Really, it was amazing how much power you could pull out of your ass from a simple two-person fusion. Of course I'm sure there's a perfectly valid excuse. Like the whole singular consciousness thing.

It didn't stop everyone from trying. Much the same as had occurred in the first battle with Xemnas, attacks were flying around everywhere – fireballs, jets of water, bolts of lightning, blasts of flower energy, gun arrows, lances, holy orbs, and shockwaves from one very angry berserker. Zexemnas seemed to have little trouble avoiding or blocking these attacks, but each time he made to counterattack, there was Roxem, redoubling his offensive efforts to keep Zexemnas on his toes.

The two fused Nobodies clashed more so than the others, their attacks dominating the conflict while the onlookers simply fired their supporting techniques. Roxem seemed to be gaining the upper hand as the battle wore on, his attacks gaining more ferocity and speed, and the placid apathy which was firmly fixed upon Zexemnas's face seemed to be slowly dissolving as he made to keep up. He placed his long saber horizontally in front of him to block two downward slices of red, bracing himself as his aggressor made to press in against the struggle of blade against blade.

"You are becoming problematic." Zexemnas spat.

"Am I too much for you?" Roxem taunted as he pushed further, his physical strength seeming to be downright oppressive. But his opponent only shook his head.

"We have been fighting for ten minutes already. You cannot keep this up. If you continue to engage us like this, you shall be permanently joined together forever. We would estimate only another ten minutes remain for you. Can you bear such a thing?"

This seemed to upset Roxem, and his force faltered. Zexemnas pressed back on this opening, smashing Roxem away from him and into a wall, leaving a heavy crater on the impact. Then the Nobody raised his idle hand and finally summoned a second sword of his own. "We have been engaging you with but a single weapon, and it has taken you ten minutes to finally match us. What will you do now that we possess two?"

Roxem shook himself off as he climbed from the crater, determination written on his face. "I'll just have to step things up and beat you in five!"

"Your joke amuses us. You cannot honestly expect to succeed. We are within our domain, fool. Kingdom Hearts has bestowed its blessing upon us, and soon, the Heart of all Worlds will be in our hands. We are far more powerful."

"Oh my god, would you stop with the "we"!" Larxene shouted. Everyone turned in her direction to see the vixen quite riled up, looking beyond frustrated. "I have had it up to HERE with it. You have no idea how annoying it is. I don't care if you're a stupid fusion, you're still one person. Stop saying "we", it's incredibly pretentious."

"Yeah, seriously." Naminé agreed, surprisingly. "It's not as if you're some genderless emissary from some indestructible dimension. You have no grounds to be using "we"."

"Silence." Zexemnas commanded. "Our use of we is a symbol. We are a conjoined consciousness. Simply referring to ourselves as a singular entity would hardly be proper. And by the way." he responded scornfully, looking upon Roxem again. "You have merely seven minutes, by my estimation."

Roxem wasted no time in charging forward, his blades glowing with radical, uncapped energy, extending their lengths beyond their norm as he swung rapidly in flying waves of red, streaking the air. Zexemnas responded by twirling his own blades in rapid rotary motions, circles of violet energy to counteract the raining blows of crimson.

A whorl of petals signaled the sudden warping of Marluxia, who suddenly appeared behind Zexemnas to swing his scythe downward. Thinking nothing of it, the impassive man simply conjured a force barrier behind him to repel the attack.

But it seemed that that wasn't going to quite do the trick. Marluxia's scythe, glowing with a serene glow, cleaved straight through the barriers and into Zexemnas's left shoulder, ripping out a sizable chunk of flesh, much to his avid surprise and pain. This, in turn, resulted in his arm going slack, providing an opening for Roxem to take a swing at his exposed side.

Thinking quickly, Zexemnas conjured a bubble of darkness around himself, quickly moving away from the attack and out of range of his two aggressors. The bubble cleared away as soon as he had mobilized, and he raised his good arm to prepare for any further attacks.

"We demand an explanation for that power."

Marluxia smiled, his entire body glowing with a pale, silver outline. "I'm sure you'd love to know."

"Do not bother trying to hide it. It is clear that that meddlesome emissary granted you this strength. Are you touched in the head? That power will eat away your life."

"I'm well aware." Marluxia replied sternly. He wasted no more words as he swung as his blade wide, creating an array of energy which took the shape of flowers, diving for Zexemnas.

He cleaved through the incoming attack with powerful swings, a show of true effort displayed on his features as they continued to barrage him. Marluxia glanced at Roxem for a moment before swinging his scythe once again, a crescent energy beam launching as he did so.

Quick as a flash, Roxem jumped aboard the beam and rode upon it as it sailed for Zexemnas, leaping off of it as it neared and landing behind him. A powerful upward swing from Zexemnas, and the beam was deflected. A powerful forward thrust from Roxem, and Zexemnas was impaled from behind.

"Gaahhhh!" he cried out as the bright red blade protruded from his body.

"Hey, Roxem!" Kairi cried indignantly from across the room. "Zexion is still in there! What are you doing!"

"It's alright." Roxem said as he stared at the writhing Zexemnas with a cold expression, his blade still sticking straight through the man, who seemed nearly helpless now. Then Roxem lifted his free blade and plunged it through him as well, parallel to his first stab.

Zexemnas didn't even cry out this time, simply gritting his teeth and dropping his weapon as he waited for the inevitable. Roxem then pulled both of his blades in opposite directions, making as if to rip his adversary into two halves.

And he did. But not quite in the literal sense. As he pulled the fused Nobody's body apart, there was a sudden eruption of darkness which flooded the room, knocking several of the on-looking individuals aside, as well as Marluxia, who was unprepared for such an onslaught. As the flood of darkness diminished, two bodies were seen flying across the room in opposite directions, both hitting one of chamber walls and slumping to the ground. And where Roxem stood, there were also now two individuals.

Xemnas patted Roxas on the shoulder and nodded. "Well done, Number 13. Now we must simply finish the job." His eyes traveled to where one of the bodies had fallen, a man whose appearance was almost exactly identical to Xemnas's – the only difference was the sizable wound on his shoulder.

"Yeah. But, really quick," Roxas said, looking up at Xemnas. "We DID separate completely, right? I know you said we were cutting it pretty close. There's not like, any of YOU still lingering in me, right?"

Xemnas sighed and shook his head. "No. We are completely separated. The union was not made permanent, and we could separate freely. Stop asking that."

"Okay, I mean, I was just checking, you know?"

"Stop talking."

Roxas shut up and looked away. Xemnas then made to approach the other Xemnas, looking down upon him with scorn. "To this day, I still know not entirely where you came from. But you will no longer cloud my judgment." Xemnas's deep voice resounded with a subtle, killing intent as he summoned a single Ethereal Blade and drove it into the other Xemnas's chest, who was still slumped in a daze against the wall. Well, at least until the blade made contact with his chest. Then he was quite wide awake and looking up in horror.

Xemnas withdrew the blade then, and impaled upon its tip was a black card. Xemnas took that card in hand, and a moment later, it combusted into black flames, quickly dissolving out of sight.

The Dark Xemnas watched his soul card burn up into nothingness for a moment, and then closed his eyes for the final time, fading away as he went to join it in the void.

"And so ends that most troublesome chapter." Xemnas exhaled. He then turned to his Organization who, other than a few people who had been wounded by the dark explosion, were more or less fine and acting as little more than spectators. "I trust you are all well?"

There were general murmurs of agreement in response, but unsurprisingly, Larxene opted to be the most vocal. "I just want to say I'm kind of irritated I even came here, since pretty much this whole fight was just Roxem and Marluxia working together. I should have just stayed home."

Eyes were rolled, but no one decided to say anything. Except for Naminé. "Oh my god, Larxene, would you just… shut the fuck up. For once. I can't even believe… god. At least you got some free new weapons, for crying out loud. Shut up."

"I would normally stab you for that. And without that little tome of yours you couldn't do shit about it. But I'm gonna let it slide. Like this knife." And then she pulled out a knife and slid its edge quickly along Naminé's exposed arm midriff, drawing a long line of blood. "Have fun with that."

Naminé wanted to explode in pain and rage at the action, but she did in fact remember that without her tome, she couldn't do much against Larxene. How terribly inconvenient. So she kept her mouth shut.

"So… are we done here?" Xigbar asked, sounding bored. "Because I'd like to be done here."

"Uhm, guys." Marluxia spoke up, looking around the room. "Yeah, does anyone know where Zexion went?"

Oddly enough, it hadn't really occurred to anyone to really look around for him after the split. They had all seen a second body fly across the room when Zexemnas was split apart, but Xemnas had pretty much captured all of their attention at that point. Looking now to where Zexion had fallen, he was, as Marluxia pointed out, absent.

"That can't be good. Let's go find him, come on." Xigbar instructed everyone, pointing at a wall and nodding at Saïx. Saïx nodded back and suddenly charged forward, slamming into the wall with his claymore and busting it the fuck open. The party now had a nice, easy, open exit to leave the castle from. Better than traveling a million stairs.

Walking Among Shadows

Zexion staggered and limped as he slowly made his way through twisting alleyways and dark lanes, sheltered by tall buildings which loomed overhead. But they would not be there long. He could see the tips of all the buildings in eyesight slowly vanishing. "Zexemnas", their creator, was gone now. The shape that Kingdom Hearts' innards had taken to accommodate him would revert soon enough, back to a light-filled dominion.

The Cloaked Schemer felt he could not take any further steps, and stopped to lean against a cold, concrete wall, taking deep breaths. He could feel the blood on his left shoulder running cold – it would be rather problematic if that ghastly wound wasn't healed soon. And while Zexion knew he had the capacity to fix something so simple, he simply couldn't find the presence of mind to do the job. He was far too preoccupied thinking over this gigantic failure of a plan.

How had he managed to let it all fall apart so horribly? Some schemer he turned out to be. He had needed power. Power to defeat Zero. Power to obtain the lofty throne above all things. To that end, he had allowed himself to fuse with Xemnas… and yet how could he have let his will fall forfeit as it did? What an incredible waste.

Reaching into his pocket with his good arm, Zexion withdrew a shimmering, golden card. The number "07" was visible upon it. And he remembered.

"You want me to find your heart?" DiZ asked, amused and perplexed at the same time. "Don't be absurd. Why would I help a traitorous snake like you? And besides, don't you have a truce with Sora between your Organization? You'll have a heart again, eventually, at this rate."

"No." Zexion replied coldly, calmly regarding his former mentor. He had come to visit him in his laboratory, pressing matters at hand to be discussed. "I'm afraid that the Kingdom Hearts plan is rather null at this point. Xemnas has killed Marluxia."

"Pardon? Color me intrigued." DiZ replied, paying little attention as he browsed through some very important-looking, science-y documents on his desk.

"Just last night. I've been keeping an eye on Xemnas for some time, you see, and the little arrangement he has with Sora is quite insincere. He plans on simply using us all in the end, and obtaining godhood via the completed Kingdom Hearts. Unfortunately, Marluxia happened to be listening in as well, and made himself known about it. Xemnas killed him."

DiZ was chuckling to himself in apparent amusement. "How typical. A traitor to the end."

Zexion rolled his eyes. "Moving on. They found the body this morning, and have made arrangements for a funeral. For whatever reason, no one is really investigating the murder. I honestly haven't the foggiest idea why. But the bottom line is that I will not be receiving a heart from Kingdom Hearts any time soon. And if Xemnas has his way, things will become problematic for you as well."

DiZ sighed and finally put his documents away, giving Zexion his full attention. "And what exactly would you have me do, then?"

"My heartless was destroyed some time ago, but not by Sora. My heart should be adrift somewhere in the Realm of Darkness. I want you to use my data signature to track it down."

"You realize that the Realm of Darkness is absolutely riddled with stray, corrupted hearts like yours? It'd be like trying to find half a piece of hay in a million stacks of needles, even with your data signature."

"Perhaps with your limited access to it. I'm sure if you were to come into a more useful tool of exploration you would be able to look for it with much less difficulty."

"What do you mean to imply?"

"'Master Ansem'", Zexion spoke with mock courtesy. "I am well aware that you have continued to dabble in experimentation with the Realm of Darkness. Ever since your return from the Dark Meridian, you have been researching it constantly. And I'm also well aware that you have been trying to find a way to establish a base of operations within the realm itself to accommodate further research. I can help you obtain such a base."

DiZ regarded Zexion silently for a moment. "Go on." he said, after a moment.

"I will supply you with my Dusks, ample servants who will follow your every command, and who can freely enter the Realm of Darkness. With their assistance, you can work toward building your establishment. In addition, I will also offer my personal services for any assistance that they are unable to fulfill. In return, I want you to begin efforts on finding my heart, and should your establishment reach completion, you will use its resources to assist in this endeavor."

"And what do you plan on doing with your heart?"

"Ideally I will receive it before Xemnas can fully utilize the power of Kingdom Hearts. I will use my newfound strength to put a stop to him."

"That's a rather straightforward approach, for you."

"There are times when being sneaky and underhanded is not always the most profitable choice of action."

Of course that had all been a lie. But none the less, an agreement was made, and the two had begun working together. A few days later, Roxas won that cruise with Naminé, and Zexion had accompanied them, knowing he would need to keep an eye on things. And lo and behold, he had made the right decision. For then he had met Zero. And reflecting on it, Zero was the cause of all that went wrong.

"What's the matter?" a teasing voice spoke from the shadows. Zexion looked away from the glow of the golden card he held, and before him he could see his servant, Ansem, smirking rather cheekily at him, arms crossed as he stared down at the shorter man. "That was quite the show you put on, Zexion. But you have left me rather perplexed. I simply cannot understand some of the actions you took. Enlighten me, won't you? I dare say you're not going anywhere." he added with a scornful chuckle.

Zexion laughed emptily to himself. Why not? Everything was ruined now anyway. There was no harm in disclosing a failed plan that could never be repaired. And really, he needed a vent. He didn't really know, nor care, why Ansem was here.

"As you know, some time ago I made an arrangement with DiZ. I'd offer him my help in furthering his research into the darkness, and in return, he would find my heart. I told him I would use it to stop Xemnas, but you and I both know otherwise. I wanted to beat Xemnas to the punch. I wanted to use my heart to seize control of Kingdom Hearts. Then, I could obtain jurisdiction over the worlds myself. But such a risky plan needed to be well thought out. I had to play my alliances carefully. I rented you out to DiZ as a show of good will, as well as to keep a spy in his midst. I don't know when he struck up an alliance with Zero. I was quite surprised to find out from you that they had been talking while we were stranded on that island, just after I brought Sora to him for his research.

I was quite enraged. If he and Zero were working together, then it was entirely possible my entire deal with him had been made under false pretenses from him as well as myself. I would need to find another way to get what I wanted without drawing his suspicion. So I began working behind the scenes. I spied on Zero and DiZ both, and long before DiZ gave us the "00" card, I knew what the Kingdom Cards were, and what they could do. The power to connect with Kingdom Hearts itself. And so I would use those cards, and with their power I could reach my goal. But no, no, no, there was still more to be done. I needed to maintain the guise of alliance with my comrades to ensure everything went smoothly, so I continued to spy on Zero, more for my own gain, while occasionally letting information slip to Vexen.

And then I let him know the most critical bit of information he would need, the final piece to the puzzle, knowing that Zero would seek to kill Vexen as a result. And he behaved exactly as I had anticipated. With the attention on Zero and Vexen, I made my move and paid Xemnas a visit. By now, I had found one of the Kingdom Cards on my own." Zexion trailed off for a moment while he thought. This was the part where things got complicated. The part where he felt he may have made an error. This may have been where everything fell apart.

"I told Xemnas that he would need one of the Kingdom Cards under his control if he wished to control the Soul Snatcher Heartless. Of course this wasn't true, but he didn't know better. You told me that Zero had already instructed the beasts to obey Xemnas's commands. I simply gave Xemnas a reason to believe they would. So I gave him the "00", which I had been keeping with me since we obtained it. Those idiots don't even realize they're holding a fake that I left with them." Zexion allowed himself a dry chuckle, no real mirth or humor in his voice. There was nothing to truly laugh about.

"Satisfied with the results, I offered Xemnas more if he would offer me alliance. He told me about the fight he hoped to win against his lighter half, allegedly while that lighter half was not conscious of his meetings with me. We arranged that I would keep his Soul safe in exchange for another card, so that he could commune properly with Kingdom Hearts. So I made a show of finding another card, before eventually handing him this one. The "07". And then I ensured that he would indeed lose his battle with the Organization by offering my assistance to Roxas. When he initiated that final attack on us all, I transported Sora and Kairi away – they needed to be alive – and then used his own attack as a distraction to steal the cards I had given him back.

Everything was going according to plan. He died, just as I anticipated, and… I don't understand how it went wrong. I joined his soul with mine so that I could initiate the final step. I would use our union to obtain all the brute power I would need to easily dispatch the likes of Zero, and then I would use everything that Xemnas set up, for my own benefit, obtaining the power of Kingdom Hearts but… somehow I lost myself. Somehow I was unable to control a dead will, and something else occurred. For the first time in a long time, I felt real, true emotion. I cannot describe it. Rage, greed, pride – I completely lost sight of my goal. As that abominable fusion, I ignored my opportunity to kill Zero, and failed to rectify the meddling those FOOLS-" he emphasized this point with a pound of his fist against the wall. "-performed in my dominion. I could have easily repaired the issue and picked each of them off and yet that foolish pride in me… I waited. I waited for them to be ready and come to me, and now… now it's all over. I've lost. This realm will return to normal. Xemnas is no longer my tool. The others likely regard me as a traitor. And Zero will have become wise to my machinations by now. Everything was for nothing!" he shouted, avid fury displayed on his features as he stared into the patronizingly smiling face of Ansem, who had calmly stood to listen to the entire self-indulgent rant. "Tell me, Ansem. What am I supposed to do now? What is left for me?" he asked with angered sarcasm.

But to his surprise and horror, he received an answer. All too suddenly a black fist had driven itself into his chest as his eyes widened. He struggled to breathe as he looked up into the face of the dark demon – the creature that acted as Ansem's Guardian. Its arm was extended forward, reaching into his chest.

Ansem's lips curved into a smile of sadistic glee, his eyes alight with a wickedness that Zexion had only ever seen Xemnas match in expression. "This is what is left."

The Guardian yanked its fist back, and Zexion could feel before he saw what the creature had clutched in its fist. There was Zexion's Soul Card, as well as Ansem's own Soul Card. Ansem took the items from his Guardian and continued to smirk, placing his own card onto his chest, where it finally sunk back into him, where it belonged.

Zexion just stared with wide-eyed shock, unable to fully process the situation. He stared for what felt like an eternity, but in reality it could not have been scarcely more than a few seconds. And then he fell. His body could no longer sustain its injuries without its soul.

Thoughts of failure were the last waking things in the Schemer's mind as he faded into nothingness. And where his body had been, two glimmering golden cards, numbered "07" and "00" greeted Ansem's smiling face.

Oblivion

Sora was running through a veritable network of alleyways in a rush as he cast his gaze hither and thither, eyes trained for any sign of the Cloaked Schemer. The Organization had come back to find him a few minutes ago, happily reporting their victory over Zexemnas and wondering where Zexion had gone. The nice Voice Lady had said that no one had entered or left Kingdom Hearts since DiZ's arrival earlier (which was news to Sora, but moving on), which implied Zexion was still within this place.

It was important that he be found soon. The realm was deteriorating, and Kingdom Hearts was attempting to revert back to its standard arrangement. Anyone caught inside of it when that happened could be trapped forever.

"Zexion!" Sora called out. "Zexion! Come on, man, we gotta go! Stop sulking about being possessed or whatever, since that's probably what you're doing, and come out already!" He continued to run around, turning through more alleys in frustration as he blindly followed intuition. "Zexion, this isn't funn-"

And then Sora stopped, as he rounded a final corner. Zexion was on the floor, staring blankly as his body was fading away. Ansem was hovering above him, proudly holding Zexion's card in his hand and smirking. Sora didn't know what to think.

And before a word could be spoken, Ansem turned and conjured a Corridor of Darkness, preparing to leave through it. Sora didn't think. He just rushed forward, Ultima Weapon summoned to his grip and trained on Ansem's retreating back. However, he could feel a sudden yank at his collar which pulled him backward, just before a huge black fist plunged into the ground where he had just been standing.

Ansem's Guardian stared at him with menacing, yellow eyes as it lifted its fist from its missed mark. Sora spared a look behind him to see Xemnas, stony-faced as usual, watching as Ansem finished his exit through the portal, a loud laugh of amusement heard over the bubbling shadows. His Guardian watched Sora and Xemnas carefully as it backed away into the Corridor after its master. And then the door closed.

"So he has recovered it." Xemnas said plainly, observationally.

Sora looked over to where he had last seen Zexion, now nothing of him left. He was overcome with feelings of sudden despair as he remembered Zexion protecting and rescuing him. Zexion, who had been possessed by Dark Xemnas's evil. Sora wanted to cry.

"Come." Xemnas remarked, actually managing to look and sound somewhat downcast as he gazed at that spot as well. "We must go before it is too late."

Sora just nodded sadly, and turned to follow Xemnas.

Yet another had been lost.