Ice Puppet

“What is ‘the key’?”

Mello was hovering over the bed in one of the Inn’s rooms, where Near rested almost peacefully, as he had been since they had brought him back from The Castle That Never Was. Axel, standing in the doorway, had dragged them out of there after their talk with Luxord. Matt had kicked and screamed as Mello held him back while the Flurry closed the portal. Matt had thrown a fit and locked himself in one of the inn rooms, where crashing could be heard for about half an hour before he finally calmed down.

Humming, Axel pushed himself out of the doorway and closed the door behind himself, before approaching Mello. He took a seat on the bed beside Near, sparing a glance at the albino. He then turned to Mello and said, “The key is the way into Kingdom hearts. The doorway. Your keyblade opens it.”

“And Near’s heart… it’s this ‘key’?” Mello asked, glancing at the slumbering boy.

Axel nodded, even though Mello wasn’t looking at him. “Yes. We need to figure out where his heart is.”

Lifting a hand, Mello ran it slowly through his hair, pushing it back from his face before sighing as he leaned back in his chair. “That will open Kingdom Hearts? Then what?”

Silence filled the room as Axel drummed his fingers against his lips. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted.

--

No one was really feeling up to traveling to more worlds, fighting heartless, and locking them. Matt had finally left his own room only to mope around Mello’s for a while, until Axel had made the mistake of asking him, ‘Why are you so depressed over someone you barely know?’ After the Flurry was beaten down with a giant key, Matt had calmed down a bit and now sat on the same bed Near still rested on, pondering.

Silence had long since become comfortable between the three so when it was suddenly broken by the sound of a portal opening, the trio jumped up with their weapons in hand, alert.

A young, blonde woman in an organization cloak stepped through, sparing Axel an amused smirk before she turned to Mello. “I was ordered to tell you that Xemnas has figured out where Near’s heart is. If you want it back, you are to follow me back to The Castle That Never Was.”

“Obviously a trap,” Axel muttered.

“What do we have to lose?” Matt muttered bitterly, standing down.

“Uh, my life?” The taller redhead offered up, still in a defensive position.

Larxene laughed a high-pitched laugh before shaking her head. “Oh, Axel- have you forgotten? We don’t have lives- we don’t truly exist.”

“Stay here if you want,” Mello told Axel as he struggled to scoop Near’s body into his arms. “But I’m going to find out if what they’re saying is true.”

Snorting, Axel stepped forward and took the sleeping albino away from his ‘hero’. “Stupid, of course I’m coming with. Like I give a shit anymore if I die or not. Besides, you can’t carry this brat, you’re not that much bigger then he is.” He turned away, ignoring the slight smile that had crossed Mello’s face- it was gone almost as soon as it had appeared. “Lead the way, Larxene.”

She motioned up another portal and stepped through, Matt on her tail, Axel behind him and Mello bringing up the rear.

As soon as Mello had stepped through, lightning rained down on him as the portal closed. Larxene laughed again, this time more wickedly, as the three stumbled to the ground, Axel almost dropping Near.

“So gullible,” the woman commented cockily, holding up her daggers as she smirked at them. “Axel, you’ve really turned into a bleeding hearted hero- oh, wait! You don’t have a heart, that’s right. How pathetic.”

“What was the point in bringing us here if you don’t know where Near’s heart is?” Mello asked as he forced himself to stand and summon his keyblade.

Placing the back of a gloved hand against her lips, Larxene giggled. “We don’t know for sure, but Superior has a hunch.”

“You didn’t have to attack us, then!” The keyblade master snapped, watching as Axel forced himself to stand as well, holding Near close. Matt still crouched on the ground, his head hung- obviously, he was not content about being in The Castle That Never Was again. “I want Near’s heart back too, I’m willing to help you do whatever it takes!”

Before Larxene could comment, Axel cut in. “It’s different, Mello.”

The thin blonde shook his head, dispelling his keyblade. “I don’t care. The end result is different, yeah, but for now we’re after the same damn thing. So we might as well work together for it.”

“You are such a hero,” Larxene spat. She didn’t say anything more, however- she didn’t have a chance. Xemnas appeared stepping down the stairs. Matt’s head snapped up and he glared at the man angrily, but didn’t dare attack him.

“A truce it is, then, for now,” the leader of the Nobodies agreed with a nod. He then explained, “I believe that Next is Near’s heart- not a normal nobody, just as Near is not a normal being. If you can find Next, then perhaps this mystery will be undone and Kingdom Hearts will finally be opened.”

“Next…” Mello repeated, remembering the last time he had spoken to the boy who looked just like Near. “How are we supposed to find him? He could be anywhere.”

His face empty, Xemnas told him, “He is at Hallow Bastion as we speak.”

Axel snorted, looking down to Near for a moment. “Maleficent hideout.”

“Yes,” Xemnas confirmed. “No doubt Next is attempting to take her out.”

“Axel, can you take us there?” Mello asked. Matt finally rose to his feet and looked at his fellow redhead.

“Not carrying Near, I can’t,” was the response he got.

Smiling an almost sweet smile, Larxene said, “I can take him off your hands.” Mello sent her a glare that made her take a step back and hold up her hands, though she was still smiling. “I won’t do anything to him! I’m not dumb.”

“I don’t trust you,” Mello informed.

Matt huffed, looking to the side. “With good reason.”

“Then leave him with me.” The trio glanced behind Xemnas as Zexion approached, not even tensing as Matt and Mello glared at him.

Mello was about to snap, ‘why should we do that!?’, when Axel shook his head. “I trust him,” the Flurry told the keyblade master, bending down to lay Near on the ground, since Zexion probably wouldn’t be able to lift him. “More then I trust Larxene and Xemnas, anyways.” Mello huffed in response and Matt glared to the side, but Axel ignored them both. He turned away from Near and held up a hand, opening a portal.

The three of them stepped through and onto the stairs of Hallow Bastion.

A scream echoed from inside. Matt was the first to break into a run, Mello and Axel on his heals.

Bursting through the front door, they watched as Maleficent began to fade away into darkness, Next before her, his puppet having dealt the killing blow.

“Well that’s convenient,” Matt commented. “Now we don’t have to beat the last boss.”

“Kind of an anti climatic ending,” Axel hummed. Matt merely shrugged in response.

Next turned around as the last of the dark woman disappeared, giving them a wary look. Before he could summon a portal and disappear, however, Mello cried out, “Wait!”

“I told you, I’m not coming with you,” Next informed. “I’m going to find him on my own.”

Rolling his eyes at the stubbornness, Mello explained, “We already found him!”

Colorless eyes widened. “You did?” As Mello nodded, Next’s eyes then narrowed. “Oh. I understand. You don’t know where his heart is and you think that if I come back with you, if I return to him, so will his heart?”

“Kid’s pretty smart,” Axel whistled.

Matt tilted his head back and forth as he hummed. “From what I’ve heard he’s a genius, or at least Near is, so I’m not surprised. Then again, the kid works at an ice cream parlor, so it did him a lot of good.”

“You’re wrong,” Next continued. “I’m not Near’s heart. But I do know where it is.” Mello’s eyes widened. “Take me to him, and I’ll explain.”

Feeling a little like an over used Taxi, Axel summoned up another portal and soon they were piling back into The Castle That Never Was.

Zexion was exactly where they had left him with Near, Larxene and Xemnas nowhere to be found. Instead he had Luxord beside him, both of them glancing up from Near as they heard the group approach. Zexion nodded and turned to leave, but Luxord hung back.

Mello knelt beside Near and Next did the same, opposite him. Matt and Axel stepped back, close to Luxord, who cleared his throat and caught their attention.

“I have something you both should see,” he explained and Axel nodded to Matt before following the Gambler of Fate. Feeling a little miffed, Matt glanced at Mello before heading off to catch up with the Flurry.

“Explain,” Mello ordered Next, but before the other could say anything he let out a frustrated sigh. “And if you tell me there’s another piece to this fucking puzzle I swear to god I will take this keyblade and shove it through my forehead. I just want Near back, for Christ’s sake. I’m getting a little sick of, ‘His heart might be here but, oh, no, its over here- wait, no, its this way- oh, I was wrong, its actually here… maybe.’ What are you smiling at?” Next was indeed smiling, shaking his head gently.

“His heart isn’t ‘over there’ or ‘this way’,” the albino informed, before he lifted a hand and rested it on Mello’s chest, directly over his heart. “It’s right here.”

The look he received was priceless. “Come again?”

Next removed his hand and explained. “The reason I said it hurt too much to be around you was because Near’s heart was pulling at me, but I could not return to it because it rested inside of you. That is the reason why you feel so compelled to save him, the reason why it pains you so much to see him like this. When the heartless took him his heart reached out to yours to protect its self, to protect him from the darkness. It went inside of you, the bearer of the keyblade.”

Looking down at himself, Mello laid a hand over his own chest. “His heart’s… inside me?”

Next reached out once more, laying a hand over Mello’s. With his other hand he took Mello’s free one and laid it atop of Near’s heart. Mello stared down at the slumbering albino for a few moments before he looked up, only to realize that Next was slowly fading away. The nobody smiled one secret little smile before he was completely gone.

Confusion and light-headedness washing over him, Mello barely heard the small sound that came from the being before him. However he did in fact hear it and upon looking he realized Near’s eyes were slowly opening. Surprised, he removed his hand from Near’s chest and moved back half a foot or so to give the other boy space.

Near sat up slowly, one hand on his head. He seemed rather out of it, swaying slightly and not seeming to realize his surroundings as he idly commented, “I had an odd dream…” it was then that the world seemed to come back and he looked around, eyes growing wide. “Where… am I?” Finally his eyes rested on Mello and narrowed in confusion. “Mello?”

Reaching out, Mello hooked an arm under Near and stood, lifting the shaking boy to his feet. Before he could say anything, however, Near was suddenly jerked away from him, hooked around the waist by a pair of strong arms.

Saix didn’t give Mello a moment to think before he was gone, headed up the stairs, Near under his arm. Staring after them dumbly for a few moments, Mello summoned his keyblade and took off.

--

Matt’s heart was beating quickly. Luxord was leading them down a path that he recognized almost instantly- his thoughts confirmed as the blonde threw open the door way to the ‘dungeon’, revealing the stark white room full of cells. However, while he had been thinking that the nobody planned on locking he and Axel up, any thought of that was dispelled as he spotted the still figure lying in one of the cells.

“Demyx!?” Axel gapped, shoved aside as Matt pushed past him and ran over to the open door of the cell, stumbling to his knees at the Nocturne’s side. “I thought he was killed?!”

“That was a lie to keep you away,” Luxord explained. “Xemnas hasn’t had him killed, though he hasn’t done much about saving him, either.”

Matt ignored the two of them, lifting Demyx into his arms slowly as he looked down at the almost peaceful face of the Nocturne. Demyx’s breathing was slow and harsh, his eyes fluttering lightly, although it was obvious that he did not realize Matt was there. It didn’t take someone with a high IQ to realize that he was going to die, like a scared little mouse whose neck had been snapped- there was nothing left he could do.

“Is he okay?” Axel was suddenly behind him, concern lacing his voice. Matt didn’t look at him as he shook his head and dropped it onto Demyx’s chest, letting out a weak noise that might have been a sob if it hadn’t been so tired.

“He’s going to die,” the redhead explained. “His heart is beating so slow, there’s no way we’ll be able to save him.”

He realized what he had said only moments before Luxord broke through the silence that followed his words. “His what?”

“Heart… beat…” Matt repeated, his eyes growing wide.

“Kid, nobodies don’t have hearts,” Luxord reminded almost gently, approaching.

Matt sat up suddenly, making Axel jump back. He removed one hand from Demyx’s waist and rested it against the boy’s throat, feeling for a moment. Suddenly, he spun around and grabbed hold of Axel, tugging him forward. “Feel!”

“Woah, hold on there, shorty!” Axel snapped as Matt forced his hand to Demyx’s neck. “Nobodies don’t have hearts, got it-… memorized?” The last word was spoken as a question as his eyes widened as well and he glanced down at Demyx in shock. “No way!”

“What?” Luxord questioned, obviously confused.

“Feel this!” Axel snapped, motioning the gambler forward.

A few moments later Luxord was jerking his hand back. “Oh my god- he… he has a pulse!”

--

By the time Mello reached the top of the stairs he was gasping for air. What the hell did Nobodies need stairs for, anyway? They could teleport! They should have elevators! Attempting to stay on his feet, he pushed open the doorway and stepped into the night air, glaring at the scene before him.

Xemnas was standing before a balcony that looked up upon a heart-shaped moon, his hands on Near’s shoulders, holding the short boy in place. Most of his ‘lackies’ were circled around him and they all looked as Mello appeared, stepping forward, warning him to back off. The only ones missing were Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Xigbar, and Zexion. Mello didn’t know half of their names, so he didn’t bother dwelling on them for long- it was obvious, however, that he was not going to get past them.

“Kingdom Hearts!” Xemnas spoke in a strong voice, addressing the heart-shaped moon. “I have brought to you the key!”

Mello watched as Xemnas released Near and took a step back. He expected the albino to make a run for it, however Near did not. Instead, he took a step forward, toward the balcony. As he began walking forward, an invisible pathway manifested itself beneath his feet, leading him upward, toward the moon.

--

“You can’t die, Demyx,” Matt whispered, holding his hand over the still boy’s beating chest, a sad smile on his face. “Don’t you feel that? You have a heart. A heart of your own! You have to live, okay? So you can truly exist.”

--

Near stopped about half way to the heart-shaped figure in the sky, reaching out with his left hand and resting it against an invisible, solid surface. Mello dispelled his keyblade, watching on in a mix of amazement and horror as the albino boy’s body began to disappear and in its wake a door began to form.

Mello’s feet began to move on their own. The remaining Organization members stepped aside as he approached the invisible passage way, stepping onto it without fear. His keyblade appeared in his fingertips and lifted itself as he approached, the end of it glowing. He stopped ten or so feet from the large door and the light on the end of the blade shot out, growing and enveloping the door.

Dispelling the keyblade, Mello approached and laid his hands on the dual doors as the light disappeared. He could almost hear the members of the Organization behind him holding their breaths and he might have wondered where Matt was if he had been in his right mind. But something, something inside of him kept telling him to open the doors.

Carefully, he pushed the doors open.

The first thing that came out was a blinding light. As the door opened all of the way, glowing orbs began to fly out- only a few at first, but then hundreds at a time. Confused, Mello turned to look, watching as they all flew into the sky and disappeared. It was then that he realized that the nobodies were all fading away, looking at each other and themselves in confusion.

--

“Axel, love, you’re disappearing,” Luxord informed, blinking in confusion.

Axel looked up from Matt and Demyx toward Luxord. Confused as well, he replied, “So are you.”

“What’s going on?” Matt asked, looking between the two of them as they faded away.

--

“Mello.”

Turning back to the open door, Mello gasped in surprise. There stood Near, amongst the glowing orbs and bright light.

“The hearts that were held here were released,” Near explained. “They returned to their original owners, and the nobodies became whole again. The nobodies who’s heartless halves were killed will not return, just as the heartless whose nobody halves were killed will not return. Demyx also will not return.”

“Demyx?” Mello repeated. “Demyx is dead.”

Shaking his head, Near lifted a hand up to curl it through his hair. “Demyx is alive. An he has a heart of his own.”

“He what?”

Near nodded, before pausing. “Well… its not quite his heart. You see, Matt gave his heart to Demyx. They share a heart, now.” Mello hummed in response, stepping forward as Near reached out. Slowly, the blonde took hold of his hand.

Frowning, Mello looked Near up and down. “You’re not… human, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” Near confirmed, stepping closer. “I’m not really anything. I don’t have parents, family- I was never born, although I am alive. When the last key was killed I came to exist, just as the next key will do when I die, and the next Keyblade master will be chosen when you die. It’s the way its always been, the way it will always be.” He frowned, then, tilting his head. “Is that… a problem?”

“Of course not!” Mello said quickly. “But… can you- I mean- are you able to leave this place?”

“Yes,” Near replied. “In fact, I think we should go home.”

He pulled away, heading toward the doorway, his hand still in Mello’s. As they left, Mello saw a bright light envelop them.

--

Eyes fluttering open, Mello lifted a hand to rub the spots from his vision as he sat up slowly. As the world began to clear he realized he was in his apartment, the TV playing some random TV show, the computer screen displaying a web page that he couldn’t remember looking at.

“Mello?” Near was sitting up beside him and rubbing his eyes. Mello turned toward him, before sparing a glance to his other side. Matt was lying there, waking up slowly.

“We’re home?” Mello asked, breathing out a sigh of relief when Near nodded.

Matt groaned as he sat up. “What happened?”

“We opened Kingdom Hearts,” Near explained. “And the hearts were set free.”

The redhead hummed gently, before looking around. “We’re back in your apartment, Mel. But…” his eyes widened. “Where’s Demyx!?”

A small noise came from the other side of the sofa. Matt scrambled to his feet and rushed over there. Glancing at Near, Mello stood and followed.

“Demyx,” Matt breathed in relief as he pulled the blonde into his arms. Blue eyes blinked open slowly and looked up to Matt in confusion.

“Matt?” Demyx whispered hoarsely, as if his throat was dry. “What’s going on? My chest… feels weird. Like something’s… pounding against it.”

Smiling, Matt took Demyx’s hand and rested it against his chest. “That’s because something is, Demyx. You feel that? That’s your heart beat.”

Confused, the dirty-blonde haired boy was quiet for a few moments as he felt the beating in his chest. He then looked up to Matt and returned the smile. “My own heart?”

“All yours,” Matt confirmed, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the other’s gently.

Mello glanced to his side as Near stepped up beside him.

“Is it over?” Mello asked.

“It’s never over,” Near informed. “The heartless will always exist, as will the nobodies. But for now there is peace, so we should enjoy it while we can.”