Chapter 31

…Kill… Heart…

…Kill… Keybearer…

The words rang clear through Renxaule's headphones, repeated over and over. A devilish mantra, counting down the minutes left until Roxas's newly found heart was lost for good. It hurt her pride, but in order to perform her duty to the Superior she had to go against her other obligations and assist the traitor. A wretched ordeal for both Nobodies, but it was necessary. Regardless, the urgency of the situation did not allow time for complaint from either party.
The man eyed the Spy as she opened a portal. This whole idea was most likely a trap, especially considering who this woman was. This being the woman who didn't even have the decency to finish him off herself, rather, having one of the lower-ranked Nobodies do so in her stead.

Marluxia stepped forward, following the mercenary despite the obvious danger, his only thought of saving Roxas. If he could not save his own heart, he would ensure no more would be stolen, so far as he could prevent. He was unable to save Xigbar from this fate, but now he had a chance to fix what had been done. And in the process, prevent the loss of Roxas's own mysterious heart.

The mercenary followed closely, closing the portal as the two walked in the faint luminescence of the Dark Corridor, silent as the tension built between them. Marluxia kept his mind on his mission, knowing full well the telepathic Nobody could probe his mind at any time for secrets and weakness.

Renxaule smirked to herself, sensing the man's meager attempts to place mental blocks to deter her powers. Such attempts could be easily pushed aside with ease, if her own mind were not overrun with the sharpshooter's killer intent. For the moment, she had to locate the Superior, for Roxas had little to no time remaining. Even a Keybearer, against the Organization's number two operative, could fall within minutes. Concentrating, she listened for a thought from the Superior, sorting through the hundreds of others floating though her headphones. Among the jumbled mess thoughts, she finally heard the voice she sought.

I should have known Xigbar would turn against me. I should have taken out Nine myself… A stern voice murmured angrily, meaning there was one very pissed off Superior about, and from the location, the diligent Four alongside him to tend his wounds.

"I've located the Superior." She muttered, and raised her hand to open a portal. Her hand faltered before the tendrils of darkness could gather together, and slumped back down to her side in a clenched fist.

Tensed by the action, Marluxia looked at her with suspicion. "Why did you stop? You said we have no time to waste…" His hand prepared to summon his scythe, and his body subtly shifted to spring back into a defensive position at a moment's notice, if this were a trick. He had been expecting something like this, after all. He was caught at her words, however.

"I can't do this." She frowned. "If I'm caught helping you, no matter the reason...it would be the end of me," Renxaule manages to say. "I would be eliminated as a traitor myself." A change flitted across her features. "What...is this...?" She placed her hand on her chest. "I can't be feeling fear... I don't have a heart to feel it with." Her fingers trailed along the place where her heart was supposed to be while looking down at her chest, the brief moment of emotion obscured by confusion.

"Everyone feels fear. Even Nobodies." Marluxia's stance returned to normal as he faced the assassin, regarding her with a calm look.

Her face grew cold once more. "Sh-shut up! You- go ahead." She opened the portal at last and looked back at him. "You breathe one word of my involvement, and I will kill you," she threatens, her eyes wild. Still puzzling over the 'emotion' tugging at the place her heart once resided, she missed the fleeting look the pink-haired man gave her.

"I don't see how it matters, as you intend to kill me regardless." Marluxia stated non-chalantly, stepping into the portal. "But if it really matters that much to you…" He paused, and turned around to address her for the final time. "This means nothing, you know. We may not fight now, but the next moment you go after my comrades, I will destroy you." He narrowed his eyes in a chilled glare.

Renxaule smirked, recovering her composure. "I suppose when next we meet we shall fight. I might even find it fitting to finish you off myself, this time." The Graceful Assassin clenched his teeth at the statement, his glare becoming a tad colder.
Ignoring the biting words as best he could, knowing Roxas didn't have any time to lose, the man gave one last spiteful look back at the female Nobody, and jumped through the Corridor.

What awaited him on the other side, as thought as he left the darkness, was the battle he had pined for, dreamed of, at times had even lusted for. To attack the one who had appointed himself a dictator and promised them nothing but lies. His promises held nothing, and the irony was overwhelming.

He exited the portal and re-entered a white world. A truly glorious chamber; the walls, instead of white, were silver, sparkling in the pale light. Two of the walls were nothing more than windows overlooking the constructed Kingdom Hearts and the dark city comprising The World That Never Was. No longer was it a lifeless, empty ghost town but a flourishing city.
The movement of the regular town nobodies could be seen from the windows easily. The room the Assassin appeared in must have been Xemnas' private bedroom, for it contained little but a large bed and some furniture, with the Superior's own proof of existence inscribed on the headboard with a black Roman numeral one. It appeared as though he was being worshiped as a god, for there were countless synthesizing materials covering the floor in large piles according to metal.
The Nobody's target was sitting in a white leather chair, glaring daggers at pink haired Nobody while Vexen remained frozen in place (non-literally of course), still bandaging Xemnas's wounds. The Superior had many slashes, burns, and holes along his arms and bare torso from Xigbar's energy crystals, many of which were already filling with darkness and healing. Though looking considerably more frustrated than a Nobody should be capable of, Xemnas did not look particularly surprised at Marluxia's sudden appearance, though he did narrow his eyes slightly at the portal as it closed.

Noticing the Superior's subtle shift, Marluxia noted and disregarded concern for his assistant. If Renxaule was punished for her actions, so be it. He had no sympathy for the Nobody. Though he would enjoy destroying her himself, he cared not the faintest should Xemnas get his hands on her. Though if all went well, he thought as he summoned Graceful Dahlia with a flourish of rose petals, the silver haired Nobody wouldn't be able to destroy anyone after he was done with him.

"I believe you have something that belongs to my friend Xigbar, dear Superior." He addressed the man, looking right into the golden eyes, which held just a bit too much hatred for a regular Nobody.

Vexen summoned his shield immediately, ready to defend them both from the Assassin.

"Please rest, Superior. I can handle this traitorous neophyte myself." Ice crystals began to form on the windowpane, and soon the walls were covered with a thin layer of ice as well.

"No," Xemnas rumbled, pushing himself up from his seat with only little difficulty. "I won't have you, Number Four, fight my battles for me like I am some sort of weakling needing protection!" Xemnas practically hissed the last statement, and summoned his ethereal blades as he strode past Vexen, though he was covering up a limp well.
Vexen protested at once. "But Superior I-"

"Silence!" He hissed, losing his patience. "Now leave my sight," he snarled. Obviously holding back a complaint, the Academic snapped his mouth closed. Reluctantly the Nobody opened a portal and stepped through, not at all pleased to be dismissed in such a way.

The room cleared of any distractions, the silver haired leader then trained his attention on his assailant.

"Now, let us get this over with. I would rather you be disposed of anyway. I would hate for my glorious utopia to be ruined by a weakling such as yourself." A smirk graced the tan features of the man's face, but it was enough to send the pink haired Nobody into a frenzy.

Needing no further motivation or wordplay, Marluxia slashed through the thin wall of ice shielding Xemnas, forcing the Superior to jump backwards to avoid the curved blade. Marluxia wasn't going to waste Roxas's precious time demoralizing the Superior or cursing his name. He had one focus, and that was to defeat Xemnas and release Xigbar's heart once more. He had the title of Assassin for a reason, after all.

The hum of energy blades deflecting the steel of a scythe echoed around the large room as Marluxia slashed and swung, trying his best to slice the man clear in half. The Superior was struggling due to his injuries, and even with his energy blades did not find it too easy to fend off the Graceful Assassin's flurry of attacks.

"Where is Xigbar's heart?" Marluxia yelled as he finally managed to pin his opponent against the window, the handle of his weapon pushed violently against the Superior's throat. Xemnas's blades vanished as the assailant's full body weight was pressed against him.

"And why should I tell you?" Xemnas grunts, struggling to push Marluxia's weight off of his throat.

The pink haired man growled and kneed Xemnas in the stomach, the man's eyes widening slightly as pain wracked his body. His wounds had been more extensive than he had realized, and without being in top physical condition he could not dominate his subjects as he was used to. He grimaced, partially in pain, but more in faux-anger. More now than anything he cursed Xigbar's name for the umpteenth time for inflicting such ridiculous injuries.

Not hearing a response, the pink haired man repeated his question. He was running out of time.

"I will ask once more. Where. Is. The. Heart?" The blade inched its way up to the Superior's neck, the threat more real than before.

Under pressure, Xemnas watched the Assassin give into his faux-emotions, and so his chance to retaliate was given. His hands stretched out, and red energy blades formed in an instant from his palms. He turned his palms up and shot red energy beams at the man. Taken by surprise, the pink haired Nobody jumped back just in time to avoid the beams, releasing Xemnas with the movement. Taking full opportunity of this moment of confusion, Xemnas shot several more beams from his hands, and without giving the man time to recover from dodging, warped to the pink haired man's back and slashed until the coat had more gashes than could be counted.

Marluxia nearly screamed from the pain, but held back noise by biting his lip nearly in half. His uniform was now ragged, but he didn't care what he looked like anymore. What mattered was defeating Xemnas, and saving Roxas. That was all that mattered. Just protecting Roxas. Repeating the words in his mind as a calming mantra, he whipped his scythe around to attack the Superior, though it met with open air as the man teleported away again.

The Superior smirked at the man's efforts. The two fighters now faced each other from across the wide room, weapons lowered to charge. His blades hummed as he rushed Marluxia again, the tips of the blades dragging on the ground to create parallel lines of melted flooring as he neared the Assassin. Marluxia awaited the man's approach, preparing the right angle for his counterattack. Xemnas leaped up, slicing the blades into the ground as he lands on one knee, a red energy wave heading for Marluxia. Well, that was new,Marluxia thought as he dodged the attack. He had been a bit lax, underestimating the power Xemnas might have gained from the countless new Nobodies in the Organization now. With a few hundred Nobodies existing under his control, Xemnas's own power over nothingness could be a great deal greater than it had been in the past. Marluxia wished he hadn't overlooked this tidbit of information, cursing himself if this turned ugly on account of his oversight.

All Marluxia could do now was be on the defense as Xemnas teleported around him with wicked speed, energy blades slashing against the Assassin's raised scythe, slicing his coat and burning skin when it connected. Marluxia yelled out a harsh noise as he brought his scythe down suddenly, slashing right through one ethereal blade to knock the Superior back into a wall. Several stones tumble from their piles and roll around on the floor at their feet, glowing faintly. Distracted by the movement just for a brief moment, Marluxia made the mistake of turning his eyes away from the fallen man, a grievous error. One second was all Xemnas needed to warp to where Marluxia stood, falling right back into his flurry of attacks against the pink haired man with unrelenting speed.

Xemnas pushed Marluxia back further towards the glass panes, the trapped Nobody desperately trying to get a solid hit on the leader. He gasped when he felt the cold glass against the open wounds on his sliced back, his coat merely ribbons now. Xemnas then jumped back without a word, his blades disappearing and his hand outstretched before him. Suddenly white and black ribbons of nothingness shooting out at Marluxia. Letting lose a shriek of pain, Marluxia saw black and white spots dance in his vision as he felt his feet leave the ground, the glass behind him giving out as he plunged headlong into the darkness below.

Reaching up his hand quickly, he caught the edge of the ledge, hissing in pain as the shards of glass peppering the area cut his hands. Falling glass around him disappeared into the abyss as Xemnas walked calmly over to the window to glance down at the dangling Nobody below him. Straining his body, Marluxia managed to look up only to see the business end of Interdiction. The Superior took a moment to look into the window pane and straighten his hair as Marluxia struggled to get back up to the floor, stopped only by the threat of the energy blade between his eyes. Marluxia counted down the seconds as they ticked by as Xemnas toyed with him, furious at and once feeling nothing. He could feel himself slipping further off of his ledge, and he could almost see the Freeshooter destroying the blonde now. This was it. He had failed. Roxas would lose his heart and become Xemnas's pawn, or worse, he would die, and this time, there would be no second chance for him. Xigbar would remain under the control of Xemnas and hunt down the others, finally going after them one by one, and Demyx…oh Demyx…

He was snapped out of his horrific daydream as pressure was sharply applied to his digits, eliciting a cry from the Assassin. Xemnas tramped down on Marluxia's hand once more, making Marluxia outright scream in agony.

"Now," Xemnas breathed with all the sweetness of a serial killer, "To be rid of you once and for all."

999

Axel kept looking back worriedly at his passenger as he ran, jogging him slightly. All the teen did was snuggle deeper into his warm uniform, the smell of a fireplace bringing some comfort to him apparently. The former Turk ran through the twists and turns of the alleyways, trying to find a safe place to rest for them all, but without Demyx's street-wise advice Axel and Zexion were quite lost. Axel stopped suddenly out of breath, caught at a four-way crossroad of alleyways. He heaved a sigh of frustration, and knew he had to get his passenger back on his feet and paying attention if they were to get someplace safer anytime soon.

"Demyx?" He shook the youth gently, but Demyx just stared blankly ahead while tears rolled down his cheeks every now and then. "Demyx! Snap out of it!" No response from the guy. "Demy come on! You've gotta tell us where we're going!"

Zexion sighed heavily, and without a word began walking down the street to his right, disappearing within moments down the dark pathway.

"Wait, Zex! You'll get lost!" Cursing the younger man under his breath, he turns to jog after the smaller teen when he is tackled out of nowhere by a black blur. Losing his footing from the impact, himself and his cargo hit the cement hard, the dull thud of Demyx's skull against the concrete louder than it should have been. Axel hissed at the pieces of gravel and assorted debris digging into his frame through his tattered clothing, his training kicking in to make his body curl around Demyx's prone form to prevent the teen from any more of the impact with the ground. He growled aloud, ready to flame broil whoever the hell was attacking them. What he wasn't prepared for, between his training as a Turk and his training with the Organization, was for the shock he received when the person who had lunged into them spoke.

"Freeze! You are under arrest for impersonating a Turk!" The commanding voice yelled loudly, terribly familiar to his hurt ears.

Green eyes widened in surprise as he glanced up sharply, not believing who he was saw. Short blonde hair longer, Mako blue eyes, familiar suit and weapon. The eyes glare furiously at him, her mouth pulled into a fierce scowl. The gun was pointed right at his face, unwavering.

"Elena?" Axel breathed, daring to believe.

"Shut up!" She yelled, "Just shut up!" A bit more demanding than he remembered, but definitely the same voice and attitude. Though she seemed to be acting odd, like she was seeing, well, a ghost. That could be bad news.
Axel stumbled to his feet, Demyx held gingerly in his arms. "Elena, calm down. You don't want to do this." He stared at her and felt a strange tug, unable to choose between acting like a Turk, or a Nobody. He wasn't sure which act she would shoot faster at.

The blonde's eyes narrowed further. "And why shouldn't I? I could pull this trigger and get rid of you right this moment, you- you imposter!" Axel caught her slight of words, and knew he needed to play it smooth if he wanted to get out of this quickly and safely.

"I'm not..." Axel didn't know if his former comrade would even listen to him at this point. "Listen, you don't want to hurt this kid. Please? Just…put down the gun, and let's talk?" He gave her his best puppy dog eyes, though she remained as oblivious to them as any opposition would be.

The Turk allowed a quick once over of the limp figure residing in her target's arms, registering his condition. "He's covered in blood. What did you do to him?" She takes a step forward, unsure if this were a hostage situation or some strange rescue operation.

Axel pointedly groaned, knowing her well enough to get just what was going through her head at the moment. He rolled his eyes sarcastically. "A gang leader and his pack of merry bandits tried to kill us, get the picture? The same one Rude and I-" His hearing was shot, non-literally, as the noise of gunfire interrupted his explanation, the bullet just missing his ear. Axel flinched, but saw the extreme tension making itself clear on the woman's face.

First lesson of being a Turk: don't let your emotions be seen, or you have given the target a huge advantage. "How dare you. Don't even suggest-"

Axel appeared behind Elena and had her in a solid headlock before she had even realized he had moved. Demyx lay on the ground, carefully propped up against a wall. So fast…she thought as she struggled against the taller man's hold on her, the position of his arm forcing her to drop her weapon. Years of training bested in a second by a heavily injured man. It was disgraceful. In her brief moment of panic she was glad no one had seen this embarrassment occur.

"You've gotten slow over the years." Axel grunted, his bullet wound throbbing painfully in his leg.
Elena glared and struggled, to no avail. She was solidly stuck. She felt herself going into shock as well, something she definitely did not need right now, the logical side of her brain told her. The other side, which was the side undergoing shock, seemed to be on repeat.

Oh my god it is him…oh my god it is him…oh my god it is Reno…

"Just a little maneuver I picked up from my days with Rude. Now, if you will just listen to me for a minute, I can explain a few things." His voice was steady and calm, the epitome of a collected, serious Turk. Still unsure if deception or truth, Elena reasoned she had little choice but to do as the man requested.

She sighed. "Fine. But you had better have a pretty good explanation."

Axel let her go with a sigh, and scratched the back of his head. "Dang, where to begin. I don't have a lot of time." He glanced sadly at where Demyx sat. "Well, I know Rude must have told you how Reno died, right?"

Elena nodded. "Yes, he was burnt by a flamethrower. The burns were too severe, and he died almost instantly. It was horrific, and tragic. We lost a good teammate that day." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "My turn. Why do you resemble Reno so much? How can you talk, act, and move like him? I know he his dead. I believe my fellows."
He looked at her in irritation.

"I'm getting to that. When the Heartless appeared, the path to the Lifestream was closed or something, I don't know the whole science behind it or whatever, but instead of dying and resting in peace, I lost my heart as well as my body. Without my heart, I became something that I believe you are familiar with already, a Nobody…" She gasped as flames sprang from his outstretched palms, dancing in the non-existent breeze. "…With the power of fire."

Seeing her stricken look, he tried to calm her down, not wanting to be looking down the barrel of a gun again.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, I'm not a Nobody anymore. I regained my own heart, and I'm Reno again, but..." He glanced over at Demyx. "Because of the organization I was affiliated with as a Nobody, I'm known as Axel now. I've been traveling with some other people like me who regained their hearts: Demyx, Zexion, and Xigbar. We're kinda on the run from the same organization right now, except a little different." He noticed her skeptical look at his claims.

"Look, if you don't believe me..." He found a band and swiftly tied his hair back into a red ponytail, knowing when he did this he resembled his former self almost perfectly. "See?" He looked into Elena's eyes pleadingly now.

Elena just stared in shock, not daring to believe what she was seeing and hearing. Without realizing she was moving, she walked towards Axel slowly. She reached her hand up to touch his tattoos gently. Axel couldn't help but let a slight smile grace his lips.

Without warning she slapped him, hard, across the face. Axel stumbled back a step or two in pain, holding his newly injured cheek.

"Ow!" He looked at Elena, "What the hell? You-" He stopped at the tears threatening to spill over out of her eyes.

"That's for making Rude be alone all this time!" She yelled at him, too many emotions present to say just one she felt most strongly at the moment. "Why didn't you come back? We could have helped you! We are Turks, and Turks stick together, you idiot." She punched his arm, hard, her eyes hidden by shadows. "You huge idiot!" Elena's voice broke, and Axel knew that was a sign of the intense feelings she was having.

He could do nothing but stare at her in shock at the display of lost control, but as his own eyes became blurry with unreleased tears he looked to the side sadly. "It's because I hurt Rude so bad that I couldn't return to all you guys...That and I was found by this group that watched my every move. Even if I could have gone looking for you guys to let you know I was alive, so to speak, I would've put you in danger of losing your hearts and ending up like me." The sincerity of his words caught in his throat, but the woman he addressed just dismissed his words in a state of denial, shaking her head back and forth slowly.

"We could have helped you…Rude would have gone to the ends of the earth, to every world, to find you and bring you back safe. You know that..." Elena glanced up at Axel's face now, a tough, defiant look on her face trying to mask the emotional turmoil going on inside. Only a Turk could hold such a demeanor under such circumstances.

Axel chuckled softly, trying to ease back into a comfortable atmosphere. "Yeah, I know. That's exactly why I couldn't tell him. Or anyone, for that matter. I had to keep everyone I cared about outta harm's way. Besides..." He looked down guiltily. "I was too busy obeying orders from another corrupted organization... even when working for Shinra was the better choice." He looked back at Demyx's prone form. "But with the friends I've got now due to working there...I wouldn't have changed a thing." Elena looked at him pointedly, knowing Reno wouldn't lie about something like that. If she hadn't had the training of a Turk, she would have given a small smile. He looked back at her expression, and smiled a bit sadly.

Suddenly, Axel froze, whipping his head around to a nearby alleyway. He cursed softly, and a distressed look crossed over his face. "Dammit! Now I've lost sight of Zexion!" He spun around in frustration and walked towards Demyx's rocking form, intending to follow his comrade.

"Oh, the short kid?" She asked rhetorically. "I think he went down that alley there." She pointed to the opening on Axel's right then walked over to her discarded gun, sighing as she bent over to pick it up and slip it back into her coat. "I guess I had better let you catch up with him then. Keep up with your friends." She looked at him pointedly. "Just don't forget your old ones as well."

Axel nodded, a smug grin creeping onto his face as he helped Demyx onto his back. "Don't worry, I'll find Rude again…after all this is done. Believe it." She could have smiled at that look he gave her. Just like the Reno she knew so long ago.

She nodded curtly in response. "You had better, or else I'll track you down and kick your ass." Axel gave his old comrade a final grateful look, and then ran down the alley she had pointed towards, at the same time as Elena walked down a separate alleyway. Out of the Turk's life once more.

Now Axel's only thoughts were of Zexion as he walked as fast as he could with a body on his back. He could only hope that the teen had not gotten too far ahead of the others. Zexion should have noticed that Axel and Demyx weren't following behind him at some point. He adjusted Demyx's limp form more securely on his back as he half ran, half walked down the twists of the alley.

Subconsciously the street-wise youth kept a tight grip on Axel's jacket as he was rushed through areas of familiar grey and red that made up the walls and streets of New York City. His mind had gone a bit numb after his kill, and was taking an inconveniently long amount of time to come to terms with the action, in Axel's humble opinion.

The red-head sighed in worry at the unresponsive hydro-maniac resting on his back. Upon hitting the main streets, he had to focus on dodging past people and traffic, so he couldn't afford to have his passenger sliding off anytime soon. Finding Zexion in this huge city would be like finding a needle in a haystack, especially since the one lost was the guy the group usually relied upon to locate lost people. It was never good when the bloodhound went missing.

He tried to look for clues and attempted to track his smell, but the billions of city smells blocked out his friends scent, and Axel's heightened senses had nothing on the Schemer's own senses. Only Zexion's own nose could find somebody lost in a huge city like this.

He froze as a scream split the night air, his specialized hearing detecting the noise among the bustle when regular street-goers noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Axel knew that shriek anywhere.

"Zexion!" He concentrated on the scream's origin, expertly dodging past people on the crowded city sidewalk. After a block or two he ducked into a different alley where he felt the noise originated from, his heart racing with adrenaline.

Zexion's distressed yell did not sound like that of pain, but of fear. That was bad. Not many things could scare the Cloaked Schemer that badly.

Axel rushed as quickly as his injured leg could carry himself and his cargo. It was hard to run fast without jostling the body perched precariously on his back, bumping and jolting the guy with every step. Secretly the pyro hoped the guy would snap out of his stupor at the uneven gait, but the guy's stark insistence to remain in his own little world was absolute. Stubborn idiot. He wasn't helping Zexion at all by slowing down their proceedings, Axel grumbled to himself.
Having heard no other sound past the initial yell, he reasoned that whatever made the teen cry out had either fled or had done something to the guy. And that would be bad. Axel did not plan on losing another friend today, so ignoring the jolting pain in his leg he leapt over two toppled trashcans and turned sharp corners without missing a beat.
He turned a final corner, and suddenly saw Zexion. Two figures in black had him cornered in the shadow of a building, the taller one of them holding fast to the teen's arm in what looked like a deadlock grip as he struggled futilely against his assailant.

"Zexion!" Axel called out to his friend, hoping to get the attention onto himself so as to give the Schemer a chance to run. Summoning his chakrams, he did his best to look like a serious threat while balancing Demyx who was still slung limply over his back like a sack of potatoes.
"Axel." One of the figures stated, making the former Turk pause.
The other chuckled. "It would seem as though we have found gang once again." The second voice was gruff, and with a start Axel realized just who was holding onto the much-frightened Zexion.
Axel's eyes widened. "It- it can't be..."

Okay, this is Aushi here, I have finally updated this story after what... 2 years? *sobs a bit* I'm sorry about my long Hiatus, but of course as I told u in my updated letter I've been very very sick. Think of this as a later christmas present, and a early start to the new year. I hope that 2013 will bring good fortune to me. I currently still have no job, I'm studying and worrying about my pharamacy test thats coming up, and I cant concentrate to study at all, I swear I need to be on ADHD medication. But anyway, Recently I have finished playing Dream Drop Distance, and its a wonderful game, but it makes one of my fav characters really, really evil... so now I have to rethink my who story, cause this game may have made me hate said character. But it has restored my muse to this story at least, even if it disproves so many theroys I've had in my head canon list to add to this story. I'll just ignore them, but, I'm also rewriting this story to fill in plot holes, and change some of the storyline, so I might add in something extra created from playing Dream Drop Distance. Its a wonderful game, and you should play it, if you have a 3DS. I was fortune enough to have a sweet imouto-chan let me play hers while I stayed for christmas. And for those of you who love my Hetalia stuff, I'm trying to make a tumblr blog, and have a whole story planned out with some HetaPonys. I know, ponys, how could I have gotten into this fandom, well let's just say, ITS FRICKEN ADDICTIVE! This will be purely pictures drawn by me and my imouto-chan. My girlfriend is actually designing the place where it will take place and the tumblr page of course. So far its still a work in process, and I havent even designed all the characters yet, but when I do, I hope that itll be great and fun. But yes, this story has not been drop, nor will it. I'm determined to finish this, my first creation, and will not stop till its done. I mean, i'm like 21 and still writing fanfiction. I do this cause it's fun, relaxing, and of course for u the readers, my fans. I used to have over 2000 hits a day whenever I updated this story, and it made myy heart leap for joy that that many people read this, and I miss it... And i know you guys miss reading this fantastic tale and yes... its at a cliffhanger... I wasn't planning on it and wanted to write more but heres the dreaded cliff hanger...

HAS MARLUXIA BEEN KILLED!? WHO ARE THE MYSTERIOUS FIGURES THAT HAVE ZEXION SORROUNDED?! WILL DEMYX SNAP OUT OF HIS SHOCK?! ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! And I have a vote...

Mixa: If you guys want her to pause updating so she can rewrite it to its full potential, leave a # after ur comment, and for those of you who want her to keep updating, and when its done, rewrite it, leave a & at the end of ur comment. This is all up to u the viewers to decide this story's fate. I know, its a hard decission, ethier find out what happens, and leave the biggining full of glitches and plot holes, or have it rewritten and made perfect but have to wait forever to get back to this far in the story. And for those who voted for her story she should write next, she might turn the top one into a tumblr blog story, to practice more of her art besides just drawing ponys all the time.

Keiko: We are glad to be back, and hope you all have a happy year of the Crocodile

Mixa: We're still doing this whole thing about the chinese zodiac? Really...? What's wrong with the snake? Why dont we just go ahead and draw up all of them, from Kangaroo to cheetah...

Keiko: OH! That's a great idea!

Mixa: ... what have i done... *facepalm* See you guys later.

Keiko: and now the updated version is complete. So i will replace this chapter with the edited version, please read and review... reviews drive me to write more o^o