"Hey, Xehanort!" The black-robed figure approached his superior with a gloved hand raised in greeting.
Xehanort glared at the familiar nuisance, his number two in command now, but said nothing.
"Oh, that's right. My apologies, Xemnas." He said the name with a level of difficulty. It was awkward to pronounce and harder to remember, but then again all of their names were. "I've got some good news! Care to guess what I found?" He paused and registered the irritation on the older- though he looked much younger- man's face. He continued, "No? Alright, I'll tell you. Remember how you were going on about how we needed a thirteenth for this plan to work? Well, it turns out that when Radiant Garden lost its heart, not all the inhabitants died."
"I am aware of Traverse Town, Xigbar. There is no thirteenth for us there. And I have told you before that we need a keyblade wielder."
"No, not all of them went to Traverse Town either, old ma- Xemnas." Xigbar cleared his throat. "I found someone who should've died when Radiant Garden fell but survived by becoming a Nobody. She became like us, only, the natural way." Xigbar shook out the memories of Xehanort- at the time under the guise of 'Ansem'- wielding his keyblade against them, transforming them all into heartless versions of themselves, and eventually stealing the heart of Radiant Garden itself. It was shortly after this event that Xehanort seemed to no longer be able to use that keyblade.
"And this Nobody, does it wield a keyblade?"
Xigbar shook his head. "No. I mean, I don't think so. But it's better to at least assemble The Thirteen, isn't it? We don't technically need a keyblade wielder to fulfill this prophecy or whatever, do we?" Xigbar still did not fully grasp the entire scope of what they were doing. Talking with Xemnas, who did, was always a little belittling because of it.
Xemnas thought for a moment before he responded, "I suppose not, but as I told you before, assembling The Thirteen is not our first priority at this stage. We want to try to assemble Kingdom Hearts by collecting hearts first. For that, a keyblade is necessary."
Xigbar barely followed. He had already asked countless times why assembling Kingdom Hearts was so important, but none of the answers ever made any sense. It seemed to be Xehanort's life goal though, which meant that he had to make it his own. In reality, the whole thing seemed pretty stupid if Xigbar was honest with himself. As long as he had worked with Xehanort, all the man ever wanted to do was assemble Kingdom Hearts. First, he'd tried it by creating something called an "X-Blade" which ended up literally blowing up. Xehanort insisted that the failure hadn't been a complete loss; however, since he did get a rocking new bod out of it, a body he had stolen off some stupid kid who didn't know how to mind his own business (the same stupid kid who had stolen Xigbar's eye).
When Xehanort (a.k.a. Ansem at this time) tried to create Kingdom Hearts a second time, much more recently, he did it by collecting seven hearts of pure light from a bunch of princesses, only that time another moronic kid with a keyblade rushed in and ruined everything at the last minute. Xehanort refused to believe that attempt was a total loss as well since he managed to possess this other kid or whatever. The whole thing really made no sense and with every new attempt, Xigbar saw more clearly how stupid it was to get mixed up with keyblade wielders in the first place. Oh well, he was in too deep to pull out now. Especially when Xemnas had concocted another complicated scheme and had already assembled twelve of his precious thirteen and finally given them their DtD-approved uniforms. They were just about ready for action. It was a little exciting. After years of just waiting around and training while Xehanort/ Ansem/ Xemnas did all the fieldwork, it was about time they got out and did something.
"Alright. We can complete The Thirteen now and continue to search for a keyblade wielder willing to do our bidding. It will take some time before the true thirteen is mentally prepared to function as it is meant to," Xemnas said.
Xigbar nodded. "Understood. So should I go get her? She's out near Traverse Town, but didn't make it all the way there."
"No. I will go. I need you to stay here and deliver the missions today. The more they focus on their duties, the faster The Thirteen can be united."
Xigbar groaned. He hated mission duty. "When are you going to find somebody else to start giving out these missions? I feel like a schoolteacher."
Xemnas ignored Xigbar's complaints and opened up a corridor of darkness, something all the members were learning to use that could take them to all sorts of new worlds. At least, it could transport them to places as long as they wore their new cloaks which prevented them from being torn to bits inside the corridors. Xemnas stepped through the swirling violet portal before it closed behind him.
She hung upside-down from a tree branch, searching through the thick foliage for any sign of movement. Her arrow was already nocked and she was positive today was the day she would get it.
"Where are you?" Her words were barely a whisper.
"Are you searching for me?"
The girl looked up at her warm, brown legs hung over the branch and the crescent smile in the air above them. She growled and loosed an arrow before flipping down from the tree.
The Cheshire Cat chuckled and fully appeared on the branch the girl had been using. "Is that a yes? Or a no?" The cat began to roll around contentedly. "Or perhaps you do not know what you are searching for."
"Shut up, you stupid cat!" She fired another arrow, but the cat vanished before the arrow could strike. He was still around though. He was always around. "Stop following me!"
"But you are so terribly interesting!" The cat had appeared again in another tree. "No one like you has ever come here before, you know."
She loosed another arrow, knowing it would miss as it always did despite her great aim. She did not worry about running out of arrows since the bow she used seemed to be able to summon them whenever the bowstring was pulled taut, so she freely fired at the cat, hoping that one day she might just get lucky.
The cat dropped down behind its branch and reappeared from around another tree. "There's no need to be hostile around me. I've actually come to warn you. One who has done you much wrong is coming for you now. He comes bearing answers, answers you so desperately seek, but be warned! Of the questions that he answers, few will be truthful and none complete."
She let the bow evaporate. That was another strange thing about the bow; it came when summoned by her will and left when it was no longer needed. Its appearance had been strange, as strange as her appearance in Wonderland. The decorative, dark thing had been beside her when she woke here. She had no idea how she ended up in Wonderland to begin with, or why she looked so different now than she did back in Radiant Garden, but most perplexing of all was how strangely empty she felt inside. Ever since her arrival, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something.
"Stop speaking in riddles, cat! Who's coming for me and where can I find him?"
"Oh, you don't want to do that. The two of you have never met before and-"
"Where is he?" She had a lot of questions, if she could find anyone who could at least answer some of them it would be worth whatever risk the cat wanted to warn her of.
"In the between, of course."
"Where is 'the between'?" She said it with an incredible amount of restraint.
"It is a place only accessible to your kind. Though, he will be here soon enough. If you really do want to meet him you need only stay put."
"My kind? What is my kind?"
The cat smiled as if she had finally asked the billion munny question. He vanished and reappeared back on the first branch and answered, "Why, one without a heart."
She summoned her bow and nocked an arrow, but the Cheshire Cat vanished before she could shoot. He was really gone this time. He had said his piece. Nevertheless, she hated giving him the last word. "I do too have a heart!" What a vile thing that cat was. Of course she had a heart.
"No, you do not."
The girl whipped around and stared at the strange man that stood behind her. He was dressed in a black robe and had white hair and empty, yellow eyes. It took her a moment to recognize his features, and when she did she gasped aloud. "Ansem?" He had been a great scholar back when she lived in Radiant Garden. She had never met him personally, but she had seen him maybe once or twice. "Is that you?"
He shook his head slowly. "No, I am known as Xemnas now. I am the Nobody of the Ansem you once knew."
"Nobody? What do you mean?"
"After the fall of our world those with strong hearts were able to survive in the form of Nobodies, people without hearts. You are one of these people."
"Wait, our world… Radiant Garden is gone?" She did not know what to think. Radiant Garden was the only home she'd ever known. What had happened to her family? Her friends? What did he mean when he said she didn't have a heart? Everyone has a heart… don't they? Was this why she felt so empty inside?
"What happened?"
"The heart of the world was swallowed by darkness. It was destroyed."
"What about all the people? They couldn't have all just died…"
"No. Thirteen of us, including you, became Nobodies when the world fell. Many others were transported to a place called Traverse Town. The rest we have received no word about and have to assume are lost to us forever."
She swallowed. This was a lot to process…
"What is your name?"
"Oh, sorry. It's Airi." She extended a hand for Xemnas to shake.
He disregarded it and waved his own hand in the air, making the letters of her name appear before her for a moment until they began spinning around her body. What? When Xemnas threw up his hand again, the letters stopped and a large, golden 'X' had appeared between them. "Your name is now Rixai. Come with me and I will take you to the other Nobodies."
Rixai was fascinated by Xemnas's power. He summoned a large, swirling, purple portal before them and handed her a black cloak identical to his own. She slipped it on over her T-shirt and faded shorts and zipped it up the way he wore his. He then entered the portal and motioned for her to follow which she did. Just before the portal closed she caught a glimpse of the Cheshire Cat's smile through the trees and remembered his words. One who has done you much wrong... She looked up at Xemnas in confusion. When did Ansem ever do me any wrong? She did not have time to dwell on this for long though, because before she knew it they had reached the end of the strange corridor and were walking into a large white room.
This story used to be known as The Origins of Organization XIII and was one of my completed stories. However, due to recent re-reading, I decided that this story had much more potential than what I initially wrote so I am going to repost the edited version of this story, along with about five new chapters, as I complete them. Please let me know what you think!