Fractured Twilight {KH Fanfic/Boy Of Choice}

Chapter XXXV

"Namine?! Namine!"

Ember called out frantically as she stumbled across what she was told was her "heart". The broken pieces scattered around with every step she took as she unintentionally destroyed her own platform. The image of her unknown self was slowly becoming unrecognizable every time she visited as her heart was consistently shattered. Ember froze in the middle of the platform, looking up helplessly at the darkness that surrounded her.

"She's not answering..." Ember muttered with disappointment. "I wonder why?"

Sighing with frustration she kicked shards of glass across the mural and stomped her foot, her hands balling into fists. Namine was the one who helped her every time she arrived to the strange place, so without that guidance Ember had no idea how she was supposed to leave. She was on the verge of death, as Namine explained it before.

Ember's biggest fear was actually dying this time, as her luck must have been stretching thin by this point. Ember swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and cautiously approached the edge of the platform before taking a look over the ledge. A seemingly endless pit of darkness greeted her.

Ember let out a sigh, building up courage by puffing out her chest. "What if I just...?"

She jumped.

However, nothing happened. Ember found herself simply falling head first into the abyss that surrounded her heart, being swallowed by darkness. She felt as if she fell forever, leaving her mere thoughts to occupy herself.

Ember reflected on her brief time at Barren Light. She was so eager to return and yet her time was short. She realized she couldn't handle being there for long, especially if the town was overall at peace since she left. Ember couldn't bear to remain there and possibly make it worse.

Besides, all she could remember was her grief during her time there. Losing everything she loved, especially her best friend. She missed Elrena. But she didn't miss Larxene.

Elrena didn't exist anymore.

As Ember continued to plunge down, her thoughts drifted to one last thing.

"I miss him."

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Exhausted, defeated, and perturbed the group had barely managed to escape Xehanort's castle with their lives hanging by a thread. Their odds increased when Sora and Riku joined in the fight, but with the information that the hostages wound up returning to the Land of Departure safely Eraqus ordered a retreat. Axel returned and quickly teleported them away before Xehanort could officially kill anyone.

"We made it but..." Axel grimaced at the sacrifice they were forced to make.

"We'll get him back." Sora reassured him. "But right now we all need to rest. No one is in a state to fight. Stay here if you'd like, but make sure to recover."

As Sora left him alone and closed the door behind him, Axel's attention turned to Ember who was still soundly unconscious. Axel groaned and promptly sat down on the edge of her bed, only the two of them remaining in the guest room. His anxiety rose unwillingly and a bad taste was left in his mouth. Ember was severely injured, Roxas was brought back to the Organization and all his friends were out of commission for a while.

'That couldn't have gone any more worse...'

Axel rested his face into his hands and rubbed his temple stressfully. He was ordered to rest, but the lingering thought of Roxas back in the Organizations hands was too much to bear. Only he knew what was to come of it, and it was likely only he could help him.