"…Okay, listen up. This meeting has been called in order to give the quarterly status report on the worlds. Nothing more." Xemnas said in his monotonous tone before turning to Xigbar, whom was sitting nearby and ordering "Take roll."
Xigbar nodded before taking out the attendance sheet.
"Obviously Xemnas and I are here. " He muttered before continuing. "Okay, Xaldin?"
"Here."
"Vexen?"
"Present."
"Lexaeus?"
Lexaeus nods.
"Zexion?"
"Here."
"Saix?"
No response.
"Does anyone know where Saix is? " Xigbar raised an eyebrow. "He has never missed a meeting before. This is really weird… But oh well, I don't know and quite frankly I don't give a damn. Moving on, Axel?"
"Accounted for."
"Demyx?"
"President!"
"Shut up, Demyx. Luxord?"
"Aye."
"Marluxia?"
"Hello, darlings!"
"Larxene?"
"Here."
"Roxas?"
"Present."
"Xaesh?"
There was no response.
"XAESH! WAKE UP OR I'M GOING TO DEFENESTRATE YOU." Xigbar belted.
Xaesh snapped awake- her hair sticking up in several places from the sudden movement. Meetings were never her sort of thing, as she found they dragged on on for far too long and had no real meaning to them.
"Oh! Yeah, I'm here!"
"What have I told you about sleeping during meetings? You do it one more time and I'm going to use you as a human target. Got that? " Xigbar threatened again, though everyone knew he wouldn't actually go through with it.
"Calm down, pirate. It's not like she killed your parrot. " Axel remarked, which erupted laughter in the room while undermining Xigbar in the process. It was a win-win situation.
Just as Xaesh went to retaliate there came a knock on the white doors that separated the meeting room from the remainder of the castle.
"Hm? Roxas, go answer that." Ordered Xemnas.
"Yes, superior."
Roxas got up from his chair and walked over to the large white doors; opening them with curiosity. Behind them stood no other than Saix, but he was not alone. Behind him there stood a young girl, about Xaesh's age it looked.
She had a 'not all the way there' sort of look. Eyes staring through everyone present as opposed to scanning them over as they did to her. Her golden yellow eyes didn't blink.
She wasn't dressed in the customary Nobody garb, as everyone around was, instead wearing simple brandless clothes, most likely from early 1900's Europe on earth. Her face looked a bit gaunt, not starving, but rather like it had prominent bones, sort of like Saix. In fact, it was quite easy to see the resemblance between the two. Her hair was even ever so slightly tinted blue, and reflected off that color in the right light, otherwise being a near albino blonde, which was pulled back into a long braid running down to her waist..
Xemnas smirked, "Ah. Nice of you to join us, VII. Who is that girl behind you?"
By this point, everyone's curiosity was piqued as they sat with their eyes glued to the stranger.
"Superior, she is a matter that I believe should be addressed with you in private, if you will allow it."
"I see. Attention everyone, this meeting is postponed until further notice. You are all dismissed."
As the organization exited the room they all took the time to stare this odd new girl down head to toe. After all, it was not every day someone new was brought forward to Castle Oblivion. And by Saix of all people?
That was it. Xaesh had to know what was going on. After waiting for Saix and the girl to enter Xemnas's chamber, she hid in the shadows and began to eavesdrop on the conversation at hand.
Lunex generally knew what was going on.
It was simply that it never LOOKED like she knew what was going on. She would have said it ran in the family, but she doubted that it did. Things like anger problems ran in the family. Things like being stubborn or having 'do not bring up' topics ran in the family.
She, SHE just looked like she wasn't there most of the time.
So of course that's how it was when her father came to pick her up.
Her brother was off elsewhere in their world. That was agreed. He would have nothing to do with any of this. He would be the local child, and she, once old enough to be useful, would be the nobody.
She knew about it all. She had to learn to fight, and how to berserk like her father, and all about other worlds, and Kingdom Hearts, and how to dark corridor, and conceal what little emotion she had...
Half of a heart. That's what she was. Half of a nobody. Half existent. Half nothing.
So she could feel. It was just... unnatural. Like she had to think about it for a moment.
It was agreed that this would not be acceptable where they were going.
There were the dark figures in the white room, all peering down at her with expressions ranging from delight, interest, disgust, boredom.
She looked at them blankly. Her eyes were glass marbles, glazed over.
Some of them joked to her father. He wasn't one for jokes.
"Superior, she is a matter that I believe should be addressed with you in private, if you will allow it."
"I see. Attention everyone, this meeting is postponed until further notice. You are all dismissed."
That was the 'superior'.
He made sure she knew his name. Xemnas.
The important one. Even his name sounded important. Foreboding perhaps? Like the sort of name she would read about in fantasy and watch in action moving picture shows. Or on other worlds, catch glimpses of the villains in whatever media she could grasp her hands around. She learned to love stories of all kinds. And she got to know plenty of them on all these missions with her father. Sometimes overnights where they had to pretend to be locals. She would huddle up at the inn, or a campfire, or just lurk around back alleys and listen to people talk. She would snag books or games on her way through, to bring back and mull over while her father wasn't looking. He was strict on these sorts of things.
This Xemnas. This leader of the dark cloaked nobodies, led them to one of the rooms. It wasn't a linear way, as this castle didn't work in a linear fashion. It didn't exist, so it could be whatever it wanted.
The door shut with a science fiction worthy whirring noise, leaving Lunex to stare blankly at the room.
It looked no different from anything else in the castle.
It was white, and faced the gigantic heart shaped moon.
Moonlight...
For once she blinked, and turned away, as did her father.
"My apologies, sir. Could you please close the window?"
The superior looked at the window and nodded. Somehow it closed on its own, sliding a hatch down over the glass.
"So what was it you wanted to discuss regarding the girl?"
"I believe she is ready to participate as a full numbered member. I'm willing to allow Vexen to perform research on her as well, should it be deemed necessary."
"I'm almost certain it's necessary, Saix. Half of a heart isn't something to be taken lightly. It also confirms one of our previous... curiosities. You DO have genetic material from the mother present, do you not?"
"I promised I would bring it, sir, to compare with hers and my own."
"Thank you Saix, we should bring send this down to Vexen later. For the time being the girl should be given proper lodgings and you are free to handle missions as usual. Place her on the regular schedule for now. and we shall work out the lab schedule at a later time."
Lunex of course, didn't show her apprehension as they left the room. She had been to the lab, and she had met Vexen enough times to know this wasn't going to be pleasant.
"This girl, Lunex, is Saix's daughter?" Xaesh pondered for a few moments. It wasn't the fact that there was another girl around her own age that would now reside in the castle that surprised her, no. What shocked her even more so was the fact that Saix had a daughter. It was the first that she had ever heard of it, at least. Why had Axel not bothered to tell her about this before?
Before she had the chance to reflect any further the doors opened; startling the naive pyromaniac in the process.
"XIV. What are you doing here? I said you were dismissed." Xemnas's piercing gaze quite frankly scared the hell out of Xaesh; it always had. But she was not about to let him or anyone else know that.
"Sorry, sir. I forgot something in the meeting room."
"You're lying."
"…No, no I'm not." Xaesh's ears began to burn as her cover was blown.
"Right. You weren't lying. Whatever. Saix, you know what must be done." And with that, Xemnas opened a dark portal; disappearing through it without another word.
Saix took one glance at Lunex and then turned to look at Xaesh.
"You're lucky I'm feeling rather… compassionate today, XIV. I'm not going to punish you for sneaking around; as quite frankly it won't do anything to phase you and I don't want to deal with VIII blowing up on me for it. Just get out of my way so I can show her to her quarters."
Was she hearing this correctly? Was Zerky actually going soft? "Wow, never thought I'd see the day he didn't want to punish me for something I've done. I'll take what I can get, I guess. "
"Uh, yeah. Sure. I'll just go back to my room. Later! "
As Xaesh walked down the corridor to her room only one thing was on her mind.
Lunex. She was so mysterious in this weird way. Not like in a "oh, I'm a badass" kind of way, but rather in an eerie, I'm-actually-a-sociopath kind of way.
Before she had realized it, Xaesh was already standing in front of her door. She took a second and glanced down the hallway, looking at the placement of all of the other members' rooms. The new girl would most likely be placed adjacent to her, as it was the furthest room from Larxene and Marluxia; and even Saix knew that the further you could get away from those two, the better.
Xaesh entered her room, gently shutting the door behind her, and walked over to her mirror. For it only being 4 in the afternoon, she looked quite tired. Her trademark bun was even more out of control than usual; swirls of dark brown and red hair fought for control on the top of her head. Her dark blue eyes were droopy, as if she were sleep deprived. The only things that never seemed to change in any form were her birthmarks- two teardrop formations, directly under her eyes. At times she wished that they had been something that made her unique, but it couldn't be changed and for the most part she had honestly grown fond of them.
Oh well, at least she had her tattoos. Those made her unique.
Xaesh glanced down at her wrists; one was adorned with a moogle, and the other with a depiction of the meteor that nearly destroyed her home world. It was pretty funny; she had to admit, for a nobody to have something of sentimental value to them. Xaesh grinned. "Man, do I remember the night Xigbar did these for me. No one in the castle believed he could write his own name, let alone do tattoo work." she concluded with a small laugh.
After a few more moments of reflection she got up from her mirror and walked over to her bed, flopping down with little effort. She was asleep within minutes.
She awoke a few hours later and checked the clock: "8 o' clock, huh? Wow, didn't realize I was that tired. Better go downstairs for dinner."
Xaesh got up from her bed, stretched, and left the room. Once she was in the hallway she noticed that her previous assumption about the new girl was in fact, correct; as her room was indeed placed adjacent to hers after all.
"I'll go introduce myself. Can't hurt." She put on her best expression and walked over to the open door. Sitting there on the bed was none other than Lunex; writing in her journal. Xayla knocked on the door before letting herself in.
"Hey, I heard you were joining the organization and figured I'd go ahead and introduce myself. Name's Xaesh. What's your name?" Though she already knew that her name was Lunex, it was still a good conversation starter, nonetheless.
Lunex looked up slowly, eyes wide open. She didn't blink or hardly falter at all.
"Oh hello." she said. "I'm Lunex. Nice to meet you."
She closed her notebook and put it down, sticking the pen through the tie in her braid.
"So I'm not the only younger person? Besides the boy I mean. My dad said I shouldn't hang out with him."
She knew her dad didn't like her doing a lot of things. There were so many rules all of the time. It was almost impossible to do anything without him getting that cold disdainful look.
She wanted to go back home more than anything.
Home with her mom and her half brothers.
She didn't even know what was going on there anymore.
Hadn't heard from them in years.
Regardless of that, it still felt like home.
This. This was away.
"So I'm not the only younger person? Besides the boy I mean. My dad said I shouldn't hang out with him"
Xaesh laughed at this. "No, you aren't the only younger person. There's Roxas and myself. I hang out with Roxas all the time. I'm surprised he never told you about me though. Then again, I've honestly never heard of you before until today either so I guess it makes us even."
She noticed that Lunex appeared to be zoning out on her; something that Saix tended to do all the time.
With this, Xaesh began rubbing the back of her neck; a sure sign that she was feeling a little uncomfortable with the situation.
Clearing her throat, Xaesh decided to continue. "Don't worry, It's not thatbad here, you'll get used to it in no time. I promise. I'll even help you out, man. It's going to be nice having someone to complain to about Vexen and his weird experiments." She smirked.
But Lunex was still lost in contemplation; hearing little to none of what she had said, and Xaesh had decided that she would be heard.
Walking over, Xaesh sat on the edge of her bed and crossed her legs. Clearly, dinner would have to wait a few more minutes.
"So, what brings you here now? Where's your home world? Me, I was "born" on a planet named Gaia, in the town of Nibelheim. But I was brought here shortly after my birth. Been here ever since. It's pretty funny, honestly. Every time I go to a new planet and I see children playing with toys I compare it to my childhood; which involved me learning how to use weapons by the time I was 2. I went on my first mission when I was 5. But there was normal stuff, too! Having Axel as a parent is pretty cool. For him to be a nobody he does have a lot of compassion… " She trailed off, clearly in nostalgia.
"But, enough about me. It's your turn."
Lunex turned to look at Xaesh.
She had, in fact heard every word, but sometimes she just looked like she was zoned out. It was easy to tell when people thought she'd completely gone.
Most of the time, for their benefit, she'd try things like nodding or keeping eye contact to make it seem more believable.
This was one of those cases.
Nod. Nod. Nod.
"So your father is Axel." She said in her most interested-sounding voice. "Mine is Saix... as you already know of course!" She added quickly.
"Well... I was born in a little village type town in a country called Amestris. The planet was simply Earth. There are a lot of Earths. But this one was different as all of them are. There wasn't terribly much to say about it, it had houses and trees and big cities, and trains, and alchemists. And I... well I was a tad different. I looked different from my brothers, and I could tell I acted different as I got older. I remember having... fits at night. Mom was very patient with me, but there were times that I would be freaking out and mom would pull the curtains closed and start hugging me so tight I couldn't breathe. So there just came a day when dad showed up. He was only there a couple of hours before he and mom told my brothers to play outside, and told me to pack up my bags because I was going away. That afternoon, he took me off to places. We didn't even spend whole days there, just running from world to world. I learned to fight with a gigantic sword because that's what he knew. Sometimes we'd drop by here. I didn't really see enough of it, mostly standing behind him, or outside of a door for an hour or so before I got dragged off to the lab, or some other place. Only today did he tell me we were going to be staying here for a while."
"Yeah. Axel is my dad. Was it such a surprise though? I mean, just look at my hair." She laughed lightheartedly.
Xaesh now saw Lunex in a new light. This girl, though resembling Saix so much, definitely did not appear to have his personality. Then again, she had only spoken to her this one time, so it was only mere speculation. But for the time being she believed that the two could become good friends.
"That sounds like it was pretty harsh. But hey, at least you aren't alone in this anymore. I've had to go to the labs far more times than I'd like to admit. You know, you'd think that after a while you'd get used to visiting the lab, but Vexen finds a new way to experiment every time I go there. Sometimes I just want to stick the needles in him to see how he'd react. But I figure its more trouble than it's worth, really, so I just let it go. Kingdom Hearts knows everyone watches me close enough as it is to make sure I don't burn anything down. Just because of something that happened ONE time..." She began to trail off, but her stomach's loud roaring brought her back to reality.
"Hey, Lunex, are you hungry? It's dinnertime and the faster you get acquainted with everyone, the better. Come on. "
Xaesh waited for the girl to stand up before walking out into the hallway and leading the way to the dining hall.
Everything in Castle Oblivion was such a stunning white that it took a few minutes to visually adjust to; the walls, the tapestries, the tables, the chairs, the plates, forks and knives. Everything that same stunning white.
"Pretty ironic considering we're supposed to be nothing, which generally is related to the color black. And yet here we are; living in a castle adorned like it just collided with the moon or something. " She reflected on.
"Okay, so since you haven't really been around any of the members, I'll give you a few tips.
1) Avoid Larxene, A.K.A the only girl in the organization besides myself. Well, there's Namine, but she technically isn't part of the organization. She's not even here anyways. But moving on!
2) Marluxia will most likely try to play with your hair and give you tips on cosmetics.
3) Vexen is just weird.
4) Lexaeus is cool, he never talks .
5) Zexion usually reads.
6) If you want to be entertained, sit by myself and Roxas. Yeah, I know what your dad said, but quite frankly he can't hide you from us forever. Ohh, Lunex, Come to the dark side!" She taunted.
"That's enough tips for now. I'm freaking starving." Concluding her sentence, Xaesh opened the doors to the dining hall and hastily made her way to her chair; saving a spot for Lunex beside her.
Lunex sat down next to Xaesh, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the entire development.
There was no way she was going to remember all the names and faces just yet, and she was still feeling a bit uncomfortable sitting by her new friend and Roxas after being told not to.
The entire blinding castle was starting to get to her a bit even. Everything was so stark next to their black clothes, and the member's faces ranging from hostility to sly cockiness.
She felt the need for conversation though, and she wanted to know a bit more.
"So... what's the deal with all of this? What is the organization exactly? What are they after? I mean, I know that they want to get hearts, but what do they do here to get them?"
As Xaesh started making her plate she noticed Lunex tense up; more than likely due to her first experience around the entire organization. It was expected that she would have some questions to ask.
"The organization is a group of extremely powerful nobodies that are trying to achieve kingdom hearts- you know that huge heart in the sky? Yeah. That's what we're trying to fill. Once we achieve kingdom hearts all nobodies will get hearts again and can become a somebody again. That's what Xemnas has always told us. It's every nobody's dream. Now, how we go about this is by doing missions- most of which involve wiping out heartless, moving their hearts up to kingdom hearts. Sometimes we kidnap people and take their hearts, but I was told we stopped doing that a while before I was born. But then… there is another way as well…" Xaesh leaned in close to Lunex; ensuring that only she would hear what was about to be said.
"I was sneaking around the castle one day when my dad was in a meeting with Xemnas. I didn't hear much… but I heard something about an "x-blade" and how it could unlock kingdom hearts with just one use. I'm sure it's all just myth, but how cool would that be? Anyways, I think that's all I can really say about this right now, you know. People are going to grill me on this if they think I'm trying to corrupt you or something. So just eat up, alright?"
"Hmm..." Lunex said, considering what it all meant. "But I already HAVE half of a heart. Not too sure if it's worth it. I mean, what good is it anyway? You guys seem to be fine as it is really. Couldn't you just go along your lives without one? You remember what it's like to be human, and to feel and all of that, but if you can remember it, can't you just be fine with that and keep on? There doesn't seem to be any difference between you and 'normal' people as it is."
Lunex shrugged after saying that, deciding it was a bad topic to broach. It might upset people, and that was truly not a thing to do at a time like this.
Xaesh stopped eating and looked at Lunex.
"You have half of a heart, yeah. But wouldn't it be cool to have a whole heart? You'd be able to feel...well, whole again. Like you actually are meant to be in existence. The memories of knowing what it was like to be human are too much to deal with, really. It's like wanting something that's limited edition only to find out it isn't in circulation anymore. You know, sometimes I feel like I can still feel, like I'm turning human again or something, as obscured as that sounds. It's a difficult thing for me to explain, and this definitely isn't the place to talk about it. But let's just leave it at that, you know? No need to get all serious. Kingdom Hearts knows it's serious enough around here as it is. Anyways, you done? I'm ready to go back upstairs. Xemnas might call to finish that meeting anytime soon anyways." She said while gathering up her plate, glass and utensils and walking towards the kitchen.
Lunex looked down sheepishly. Yeah, that was the trouble with ACTUALLY saying what you thought. It would most likely upset someone.
Quietly, she picked up her things, having only eaten a bit herself.
Excitement had a habit of wiping out appetite, only to bring it back amplified much, much later. Usually when it was least wanted.
"You know, I sort of get what you mean." She heard someone say behind her.
Lunex whirled around.
Roxas, that kid she wasn't supposed to talk to.
"What?"
"The whole not getting it thing. I think I sort of know where you're coming from."
"Oh. That. It's nothing. Nothing at all. Why don't we drop the subject."
"No, it's like... I don't remember being human, so for me it sort of... I don't know. I don't really see the point in this. I just got hauled off here before I could even form words, and they put me to work."
Lunex couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh. So it doesn't really count for either of us then because we don't know what they're going through. So, you don't remember what it was like to feel then?"
The two of them started walking upstairs.
"No. I don't have any memories before all of..." He waved at the walls. "This. This is all I know. I don't get the point in it, but it's all I've got so I do it." He laughed a bit. "It's not so bad though, if this is all you've got. Afternoons with ice cream are fun, and I don't have to put up with vacations very often."
"Wait, PUT UP with vacations? Vacations are supposed to be what you LIVE for!"
"Ehhh, I don't see the point in them really."
Lunex pushed open her door, having reached the destination, not sure whether or not Xaesh had gone ahead to her own room or Lunex's.
Xaesh had only been on her bed a few moments before Axel came into the room; eyes lowered.
"Hey, so I noticed you were one of the first to leave dinner. That's definitely not like you. Look, I'm sure you have a lot of questions that you want answers to, and that's fine. But- "
"Dad, I'm actually fine. I was just thinking a bit is all, and I usually do it best when I'm alone. Don't worry about it! Lunex is pretty cool. We seem to get along well. And come on, did you really think I'd get hurt that easily? I'm not a pansy!" She flexed her arm, smiling.
"Alright, alright. Whatever you say, punk." He said while lightly punching Xaesh on the shoulder.
She responded by attempting to mess his hair up; only to fail miserably in the process.
No sooner than the two began joking around there came a knock at the door. It was Luxord.
"Sorry to break up your moment, mates, but Xemnas is calling us back to finish that meeting. He said to report back immediately. Leave it to him to ruin a perfectly good drinking moment. I almost had Xigbar and Lexaeus beaten before I even got to start! Can you believe that? Bunch of lightweights." With this, Luxord began walking back to the meeting hall; still mumbling to himself.
"I seriously want, no, need to see him drinking in action one day. " Xaesh announced.
"It's actually not as fun as you'd think… It's even better than that. Come on, let's go finish this up."
Lunex had noticed Axel and Xaesh leaving before Luxord came in, peeking his head around the corner just to say,
"Meeting."
Lunex ran out the door to catch up with Axel and Xaesh, knowing she had no clue where the room was.
On the way, she passed her father.
"Dad, where are we heading?"
"The hall. Use your dark corridor to get to your chair."
"Oh. Ok, that makes sense I guess." She answered before he vanished completely.
She was never good at those things, so it took a few tries before she actually landed on the chair, stumbling a bit and catching a slight moment of vertigo as she looked down at the floor.
With swooshing noises the others appeared on their chairs one by one.
Finally, it ended with the superior, looking down at each member before the meeting began...
Xemnas looked directly through each and every member of the organization as he began his speech.
"Attention! Since we already took roll earlier, there's no need to redo it again. So, let us begin. Right now, Kingdom Hearts is barely a quarter complete. At this rate it will take us decades to finish, and we don't have that kind of time. Especially considering that keyblade wielder is still out there, alive and well. From this moment I want recon done on him weekly. Let me know where he's at, what he's doing, and how he's doing it. Also, you all will be putting in extra hours to gather more hearts. You will report any recon completed directly to Saix. Consider this the mere…beginning."
Something about his voice made Xaesh think about what the superior had in mind for the organization in the future. "What all does Xemnas know and isn't telling us?" Surely between Saix and himself there were greater plans than just collections and recon. But that was not for her to dwell on. Not now, at least.
She shrugged off the annoying thoughts and focused her gaze on Lunex. For this being her first meeting, she was taking it well.
"Man, during my first meeting I fell asleep and actually fell out of my chair. Talk about embarrassing. Considering I was so little though, I was let off easy enough. "
"…And that will conclude this meeting. Dismissed. "
"Well… that was easy. Now I can finally SLEEP!"
Xaesh teleported off her chair and walked to Axel's room to say goodnight.
Once she got back to her room she changed from her organization uniform into her pajamas; which of course had a flame pattern on them.
Crawling into bed, she let sleep overtake her.