Obvious disclaimer

A Monopoly on Emotion

Olympus Coliseum

Donald waits until they're speeding away from Beast's Castle to begin his interrogation.

"Tell us now, who are you, and what's your connection this Organization XIII? Why do you know their names?" Roxas looks down at his feet. He meets Donald's eyes for a moment and flushing, opens his mouth to speak.

"I… don't know. I just dreamed it. Or remembered. Or something. I don't know!" Roxas looks away from Donald, to Goofy. Goofy turns his head away, he can't, won't stop this.

"They called you one of them!" Donald shouts.

They've stopped flying, the ship floats idly over the Olympus Coliseum. No one notices, Donald and Goofy are staring at Roxas, who is focused on the floor. Donald's breathing is harsh with anger. His hands are grasping his staff tightly and the faint glow of magic surrounds him.

"Who is Roxas?" Goofy asks quietly and he can see the boy shatter under the pressure of their words.

"Who is he, or who was he?" Roxas asks finally. Everything about him is breaking, his voices cracks on the 'was'.

"Who was he?" Goofy answers, because that's what Donald really wants to know.

"Roxas was a boy from Twilight Town and before that he was a Nobody with a Keyblade. He had a best friend named Hayner who replaced Axel, but he lost a fight to a boy and a girl stole his memories and then he became Roxas from Twilight Town and not the Key of Destiny. The Nobody boy was part of an old man's plan, but the plan went wrong and now he's, I'm just Roxas." There is silence. Roxas starts laughing.

"Is that what you wanted to know? Because that's what I remember. Less and less of Twilight Town and more of a World that Never Was and I still don't know who I am!" He's still laughing between words, his choked syllables sound like sobs.

Desperately, Goofy wishes he would stop, the sound is so discordant and wrong. Goofy remembers Sora's laugh, it's echoing through the ship, warped and distorted. But Roxas is still laughing, madly, painfully, hysterically; even as he's running from the ship, running into darkness.

---

"Donald, we've gotta go after him!"

"Hmph. Leave him. We don't need him to find Sora. He admitted he was a Nobody, and that means Organization XIII! It's probably his fault Sora is missing!"

"He's our friend!" Goofy shouts and Donald closes his mouth. Goofy never shouts, in that way he and Donald have always differed. But now he's screaming, he's calling Roxas their friend, and Donald listens.

"He deserves our friendship! He's not Sora, he won't ever be Sora. He's Roxas. He's our friend and he has a heart!" Donald nods; Goofy is right, they both know it. Donald exhales slowly, letting go of his anger. His shoulders unclench and he dropped his weapon.

They exit the ship side by side and as darkness swallows them, Goofy hears Donald beside him.

"It was easier to blame him." Goofy knows.

The place he's run into is dark, that's the first thing he notices. His breath comes in gasps; his laughter dies away into the depths of the cavern he's found himself in. There are memories of another life crowding his vision; Twilight Town is being replaced by the cold stark castle of his dreams.

There are torches, topped with blue flame, that create paths through the darkness. Unthinkingly, Roxas follows one. Cold water laps at his feet and he starts, looking around him for the first time. Stalagmites rise from the rocky ground, sometimes meeting the stalactites above. A chilly wind moves through the cave, raising the hair on Roxas' arms.

A scream rents the air and from the murky dark before him a girl stumbles forward, Heartless on her heels. Roxas moves forward, Keyblades swinging, and the Heartless retreat, vanishing into the darkness.

The girl rests on her elbows, trembling slightly. Roxas offers her a hand but she brushes it away, standing slowly on her own.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He's really curious, because if the girl was looking to die, she was going about it perfectly.

"I was fine." She snaps, a little fire in her voice. But mostly she looks tired and Roxas doesn't snipe back at her because of it.

"So what about you, you looking to die yourself, wandering in Hades' realm?"

"Hades? He some kind of bigshot around here?" The girl stares at him, dumbfounded.

"Where in the realms did you come from, kid? Hades is the Lord of the Dead. A god. You don't mess with him." Roxas looks unimpressed and she laughs. "Still, you've got spunk. Or a death wish. I like you. The name's Meg."

"Roxas." Meg brushes dirt off her dress and inspects the boy.

"Look, kid, Roxas. I need to go see Hades. You should probably get out of here. The Caves of the Dead aren't just a place to hang about in." Now it's Roxas' turn to stare.

"You nearly got your heart stolen by a bunch of Heartless, and you're telling me to be careful? Look. I'll just come with you."

Somehow, Roxas finds himself defending the girl through the winding passages of the Underworld, avoiding crashing boulders and killing a seemingly unending amount of Heartless.

"Where'd you get those key thingies anyway? For all their flouncy looks, they're pretty useful." Meg commented as Roxas finished off another slew of Heartless that had surrounded them outside an ornate marble door.

"Keyblades. And. I'm still trying to find out." Meg doesn't ask further, she can see the thin line that Roxas' mouth has become.

"I'm pretty sure that this is the door to Hades' Chamber. You can go do whatever it was you were here to do in the first place now."

"Don't think you're getting rid of me that easy. I kind of like you. And you'd hardly be half as interesting as a Heartless." Meg snickers but goes to pull the door open.

Instead it flies open and a black blur runs past, chased by a large fireball.

"Why do I always get the sucky jobs?!" The blur wails and Roxas jumps.

"Demyx?" The figure slows and whirls around, barely ducking the fireball.

"Roxas! You're here! Wow, Axel would be stoked to know that, if he wasn't running from Saïx and everything. But hey, it's awesome to see you! And you're still in top form and everything! The Superior will be stoked. Or you know, as emotional as he ever gets. But gee, it's really great to see you! You coming back to us yet? Hey, you know what, maybe we should just talk later. I think Hades is kinda mad." Demyx ducks another fireball and vanishes in darkess.

Hades descends the stairs, looking immensely displeased and practically on fire. He takes a moment to survey the valley before turning and preparing to return to his chamber. As he does he reverts to a blue-ish color, without any of the flames surrounding him.

"Hades! Wait!" Meg jumps out from where she'd been standing behind the door and dashes after him, leaving Roxas no choice but to follow. He takes another glance into the valley behind them and catches up to Meg.

Hades turns and looks at the pair with amusement.

"Blunderboy let his pet girlfriend off the leash? Or is he dead? Please tell me you're the bearer of good fortune!" Meg scowls.

"Shut it Hades. I'm here of my own choice. But you've got to stop these Coliseum fights. It's too much!"

"So I am getting to him. Excellent! Well, it was lovely to see you Wondergirl, and bodyguard, but I've really got to get back to killing Hercules. It was great of you to stop by!" Neither Meg or Roxas move and Hades raises a hand, a menacing ball of fire appearing in his palm. Roxas pushes Meg behind himand sends the fireball flying with a swift parry. He jumps, prepared to land the perfect hit, only to find his Keyblades slide away Hades.

"Well lookie here, we've got ourselves a bona fide hero! Well, kid, here's the rub. You're a hero. And this is the Underworld. We're not really fans of those types. So down here, you're nothing. A zero!" Hades laughs and Roxas scowls, still not letting go of his blades.

"Hades! Please!" Meg is getting desperate now, he can hear it in her voice.

"Well…" The god's gaze is drawn to the Keyblades in Roxas' hands. "Say… those are Keyblades. I thought only that no-good pipsqueak Sora got to flash those things about."

"These are mine." Roxas says, though his grip on the blades tightens perceptibly.

"Right, right, sure. Well, kid, I guess it seems we're going to be able to ink out a deal after all. You see, I've got this door. And it's got this big ole lock on it. So, if you're willing to get rid of it with those fancy smancy keys of yours, I'm willing to lighten up on Blunderboy up top!" Meg glances at Roxas and she's wary of the offer, but she's so hopeful that Roxas nods tightly to Hades.

"Well then, if you'll just come this way, the door's right here." There is an unholy amount of glee in the god's voice as he leads Roxas into the circular room at the top of the stairs. It's made completely of blue-grey stone, the walls are carved with strange gargoyles and other, more unidentified creatures. At one end is a marble throne and in the middle of the room is a circular portal, filled with swirling green yellow light. It makes Roxas slightly sick to look at it. Directly across from the throne is a large door crisscrossed with chains and inscribed with glowing blue designs. Roxas goes to it, raising Oathkeeper to point at the lock. A beam of white light shoots from the keyblade, the lock glows and vanishes.

"The Underdrome is back in business!" Hades grins triumphantly.

"So now you'll hold you end of the bargain?" Meg asks. The god waves a hand nonchalantly, still focused on the now-open door before him.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever." Meg doesn't look convinced, but they leave despite her misgivings.

When they're down the stairs the doors slam shut behind them and they make their way from the Underworld in silence. No Heartless appear now, the tunnels are eerily silent. Footsteps, not theirs, echo behind them and Roxas turns. A flash of black against the green rocks catches his eye.

"Meg, the door is just ahead. I've got to go. Will you be okay?" Meg looks at him in surprise.

"Sure Roxas. I'll be fine. I've been telling you that all along. Come find me up top in the Coliseum, when you're all done with… that." She smiles and walks away, quickly fading into darkness. Roxas waits a moment and then turns around, running backwards down the tunnel.

"Demyx!"

---

"Demyx!" The sound echoes down through the caves. Roxas runs down the tunnel, following the faint footsteps.

"Demyx!" He stumbles, ripping one of the knees of his pants. He can feel blood begin trickling down his leg. A black, gloved hand moves into his vision. Roxas brushes it away and stands. The man takes off his hood, revealing blond hair and a happy smile.

"Roxas! I've missed you! Xaldin says he saw you at Beast's Castle, and he said you're remembering us! And you knew my name! So are you ready to come to us yet? Luxord and Xigbar never listen to me play, and Saix's gone offworld. Except now the Superior's sent me here. But it's awful-"

"Demyx, where is Axel?" Roxas cuts through chatter, deadly serious.

"Axel left the Organization. Saix is after him. That's why you sould come back, cause then Axel will too!"

"Axel left?" Roxas repeats slowly.

"Sure did! Right after you did. It's awful boring at the Castle now." Demyx pouts but Roxas isn't paying attention. He's walking away already, and Demyx runs after him, grabbing the boy's shoulder.

"Roxas! Hey, you can't leave! You've got to come back to us, we need you to complete the plan!" Roxas shoves the Nobody's hand away.

"The plan will never work." Roxas says coldly. Demyx's face falls.

"Whaddya mean Rox? Kingdom Hearts is our only chance! How can you say that?! I know you feel this ache where our hearts should be! I know you don't want to fade away, same as all of us. Don't you want to be whole, to be a Somebody?" Demyx looks so earnest, so impassioned. It's a mockery of what he claims to be. Roxas remembers that ache and the emptiness. Except now it's more like a memory and less like a constant. Instead there's a gentle warmth spreading from his chest and the faintest sound, ba-dum, ba-dum, always in his ears.

"Demyx. How do you think Kingdom Hearts is made?" Demyx looks at him, confused and uncomprehending.

"Well… you kill Heartless and stuff. And release the Hearts they've stolen. And then they float up and join Kingdom Hearts. I guess."

"But how do you think we first made our Kingdom Hearts in the beginning? It didn't just magically appear, to help us in our time of need." Roxas sneers. He can't help it. He remembers Xemnas' speeches and the madness that was the light behind the man's eyes. "Xemnas made it, in the beginning. And don't kid yourself into thinking he asked the light to help. Xemnas made that Kingdom Hearts of pure darkness. It will never be the real thing." Demyx can only stare at the boy before him, the boy who is mocking everything the Organization has worked towards.

"How… how can you say that? How can you know?" He finally demands.

"My heart told me." Roxas says and he doesn't stick around to see Demyx's reaction. He can hear the shout of rage and the disbelieving laughter as he runs up the tunnel, heading towards the light he knows must be at the end of the tunnel.

---

He doesn't end up going to the end of the tunnel, up the stairs. Because Goofy and Donald are coming down them, and Goofy is grinning at the sight of him, and Donald isn't scowling. They do look worried, and then surprised when Roxas looks angry upon hearing what Hades has done to Meg. He's stolen her, Goofy says. Stolen her and made her the prize for the very first Underdrome. The trio moves downwards, once more into Hades' realm, and along the way Roxas explains how he knows Meg. He doesn't mention Demyx, he can't.

Hercules is waiting at the river and the ferryboat and introductions are rushed and stilted. Hercules can't look away from the underground coliseum across the water and Roxas understands why Meg was risking herself in the darkness. Not even Hercules' bright smile can hide the dark circles under his eyes, and the way he loves Meg.

In the end, Hercules wins Meg back, defeating Cerberus and playing the hero, as always. Roxas stands beside him, but he doesn't protest when Hercules accept the trophy, the cup, and Meg. She's fine, brushing dirt from her dress and Roxas is relieved, because somewhere along the line he realized he quite liked her. It's not sort of liking he has for Goofy, that is inevitable and inescapable. He doesn't love her, hardly. He's sure he can't love anyway, not yet. But Meg is his first friend, in his eyes. The first friend he was free to choose.

Meg only has the time to smile at Roxas before Hercules embraces her. It's all very fairytale ending. Roxas is surprised that it doesn't sting, not the tiniest bit. He supposes that's part of friendship, and really, Meg deserves her ending.

They leave the world quietly, and no one talks as the gummi ship takes off, and it's all very much okay.

AN: Apologies for the wait, but you'll notice this chapter is significantly longer then the previous ones. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not quite happy with the final portion of this chapter, but my mind was already moving onto other worlds, so I had to finish this up before I could follow. At far too late at night.

Reviews are always greatly appreciated, they keep me writing away (during math class and whathaveyou).