Imaging

AN: This one's for Amm if only because we're both just playing all of these games now and because this was inspired when I was talking to her about a certain aspect of Kingdom Hearts 2.

It had started off as another normal day in the Castle That Never Was. Twelve of Organization XIII's members had congregated in the Grey Area, preparing for their missions while Saix silently watched from his post. Their newest member, Roxas, finally appeared to be aware of his surroundings and thinking for himself. Now that they had a Keyblade user on their side, their goals would be much easier to achieve. The only thing that had been remotely exciting was the rumor that a second Nobody with this powerful weapon had already been found. Only a few of them knew the full truth behind this, however, and he or she had not yet actually been chosen to be one of their numbers. Despite these small points of interest, the rest of the day promised to be just as typical as any other within the Organization.

That is, it had appeared to promise that until they were met by an extremely rare occurrence.

Luxord had finally decided to be the first to depart for his assignment and was just starting to open a dark portal when the doors to the Grey Area flew open with a bang. There was only one possible source of noise and the Nobodies stared at the shaded doorway in surprise. Was... he really coming there to see all of them?

Sure enough, the ensuing footsteps brought a figure into the light and revealed their leader, Xemnas. He stopped after a few more steps, slowly turning his gaze upon each of their shocked faces. Yes, having him visit was quite a rare treat. He nearly smirked. "I need to speak with all of you. As I'm sure you've guessed, it's urgent."

He was still met with silence and agape mouths, even from Saix. This was definitely highly out of the ordinary. However, part of their reactions might also have been caused by seeing what he was currently wearing.

Xemnas was clad in a coat of a similar build to their own black ones, but this one was white with an intricate black pattern curving across it (or was it black with a white pattern?). The rest of the Organization was truly remaining silent because at the moment they were too busy trying to figure out words to put with their racing thoughts.

"Now that we have one chosen by the Keyblade in our number, there will be much more work for all of us to do. When we have succeeded, we will need to be able to make an impression on the hearts of those who already have them. Everyone will remember the name of Organization XIII. However, we must also imprint their memories with the right... picture." At that, he thrust his arms out, acting as though they would not have noticed his current garb until just that moment.

He was still met by silence and blank stares.

There was no need to let their amazement at his utter brilliance stop his speech, he told himself. Xemnas continued, shouting dramatically. "This is our NEW IMAGE!"

There was another moment of silence. Xemnas couldn't help but think that he was already quite clearly making his point from that reaction. However, his thoughts were answered when Zexion finally spoke.

"No."

The rest of the Organization finally broke free of their shocked facial expressions, frowning while a few of the braver ones nodded in agreement.

Xemnas seemed mildly horrified. "...What?"

"I'm not wearing anything that looks like that," Xigbar said, seeming to have found confidence in the apparently unanimous reaction from the others.

"It really isn't very... flattering," Xaldin added, grimacing a bit.

Vexen remained silent, his expression appearing to be a mixture of disbelief and horror (or was that just how he always looked?). Lexaeus merely scowled as well.

Xemnas frowned angrily at the founding members before desperately turning to the others for support. "Do all of you agree with this?!"

After an awkward pause, Larxene was first have the courage to begin speaking on their behalf. "Aren't we supposed to work in secret? Everyone will be staring at us if we go out in that getup."

"It's imposing!" Xemnas retorted.

"Imposing things should simultaneously be pleasing to the eye," Marluxia said, running his hand across his hair.

"Yeah, dude, it's a bit... loud," Demyx added.

"We might as well reveal our entire hand to the other players," Luxord said, pulling out a few cards for effect.

Roxas could only keep staring, his frown clearly expressing immense dislike. What was he getting himself into, again?

"Uhh, yeah," Axel finally said after a brief pause, scratching his head and looking away. "I really don't think any of us are going to agree to something like that."

"I'm your leader!" Xemnas exclaimed. "You will all do as I say!"

It was at this point that Saix finally spoke, and as the others looked at him they could tell that from his expression he was desperately fighting off the urge to bury his face in his hands. The levelness in his voice sounded completely forced. "Maybe we should have had a meeting about this first."

"We are wearing these coats! The moment I saw this even I, a being without feelings, was momentarily immobilized by its grandeur!"

Yet another silence followed this and had any of them spoken they would have realized they were all basically thinking the same thing. "Yeah, if you had feelings you would have been able to identify what that reaction really was..."

Eventually, Saix spoke again. "I think the rest of us have come to a consensus on this... matter."

"We don't even need a new image, do we?" Vexen asked.

"If we did, I highly doubt it would be that," Zexion replied.

"All of you dare defy me?" Xemnas said, still enraged. "The black coats aren't going to cut it! Have you ever seen a coat better than this?!"

There sure were a lot of silences today. This one was a bit longer than average and was finished by Axel. "You know, we all like the ones we have now."

"It's twelve to one. We're not wearing that," Larxene said with annoyance.

"Though it wasn't her place to say it, Larxene is right," Saix said, finally showing some composure again. "Although you are our leader and we follow your every command, I don't believe decisions like that fall under your responsibilities."

Xemnas made sure he gave all of them a good, long glare before finally curling his hands into fists and thrusting them down at his sides. "Fine," he growled, turning away and beginning to leave the room. "One day, all of you will see the error in your choice. This is the coat I'm going to be wearing when I get my heart!"

With that, the doors slammed shut.

His exit was followed by the longest silence the Grey Area had witnessed since he first entered.

"Did he really just...?" Xigbar began, staring at the empty doorway incredulously.

"Depart for your missions, everyone," Saix interrupted, sounding authoritative once again. "Axel, I need to speak with you before you leave."

With a few grumbles, nine of them eventually exited the room, either through the door or through a dark passageway. Axel glanced around, noting that Roxas was still sitting there with the same frown. The poor kid was going to learn how things really went around here fast, wasn't he?

Once he was sure everyone had gone, Saix finally turned to him. "Axel, I have a new mission for you."

"Huh? Don't I need to keep an eye on...?"

"We can supervise him here. I'm going to go and... collect something for you, but when I return to this room you need to go to Twilight Town."

Axel's brow lowered and he spoke seriously. "What's the mission?"

Saix stared at the door. "I'm going to find Xemnas. I want you to find a store and show him what good taste in clothing is."

Axel looked a bit surprised before smiling confidently. "Oh. Yeah, you can count on me for that!"