Somewhere in Castle Oblivion, two of the Organization members, Larxene and Marluxia, sat and looked at a few monitors; several of the monitors showed images of a hooded figure walking aimlessly through the bleak white halls.
"Number XII, please go check out that guy that's been wandering around like a mindless drone and see if he has any ties." Marluxia stated dully from an observation chamber. He was sitting in a relaxed position with his head propped up on his arm and his legs crossed.
Larxene sighed and stood. She did a few warm-up stretches before she replied, "Yeah, yeah fine. Looks like I have to be the one to clean up the messes around here…" She rolled her eyes and sashayed out of the room.
Normally, Larxene would have used a Corridor of Darkness, but she decided to take the long way and get some time to think. After all, there was nothing to do in Castle Oblivion except wait for orders that were beginning to be an endangered species. The blonde lightning user sighed and began to recollect on the things that happened before she got stationed in the Castle. First, there was the guy with the brown skin and red hair that looked very identical to No. I, the only noticeable differences were the color of the hair and its length. The superior's hair was long and gray. This other guy had short red hair. After he first revealed himself, the red haired guy, she'd have sworn that they met someplace before but she just couldn't pin down where she'd seen him. Larxene, like most Nobodies, had no real feelings, but for some reason she kept feeling a strange sort of attraction to the nameless newcomer.
"You're not really into this… it's just your mind making it up…" Larxene often repeated this to herself when in the Castle That Never Was, while she lay in her room, but every time she closed her eyes…
"I keep seeing him… We're together, him and I… but I've never seen him before in my life!" Larxene huffed and sprawled her arms out and slammed them to her sides just before rounding a corner in the marble white halls of Castle Oblivion.
The more she tried to sort it out, the more complicated things had gotten. He was always what she thought about, always on her mind. They had only talked in Headquarters a few times, only on missions, even less than she'd ever talked to Lexaeus and Xaldin, and that hardly happened. They were both deployed together on a mission one time and that was when the feelings had swept her up like a cow in a tornado.
No. XII remembered a specific time before, during their third or fourth mission together…
The two of them were on Destiny Islands walking on the beach. There was a secret passage in a cave near the pier. The two entered the cave, and Larxene had been swarmed by nearly two hundred heartless. She managed to take out the majority of the monsters, but somehow five of them caught her off guard and pinned her to a wall in the cave. She had never cried out for help before, never felt fear or terror. She was usually the one to do the torture, but she was in a cave swarmed by monsters, and she was whimpering, cowering as the navy blue beings known as Neo-Shadows held her to the wall.
She was bound by her arms, they held her arms over her head and there was a nice tear in her cloak, across her chest which exposed a bit of her electric blue bra. The Neo-Shadows crept closer to her and applied more force to keep her immobile. She had never shown fear or cowardice, but this one particular moment, she was weak, vulnerable, fragile, a damsel in distress. Goodness knows how much she hated that phrase and feeling that way.
Larxene gritted her teeth as she rounded another corner and downed a flight of stairs, her teeth clenched as she treaded the halls of Oblivion, recollecting on her unfortunate mishap with No. XV. She was seriously going to give him the works when she found him. She though about him once more and how she was saved, like a helpless princess who always relied on the prince to come to her rescue; Larxene clenched her fists and unclenched them, summoning three of her knives to her left hand and dug them into a nearby bleached stone pillar and carved through it like a hot knife through butter. The pillar groaned and crumbled before the Savage Nymph proceeded to her newest target, and latest fascination. The blonde sighed and withdrew her weapons. The hollow steps she took echoed even louder now than before. The noise from her boots reminded her of another incident with No. XV.
The two of them were alone in the Castle that Never Was. She'd just finished her mission early and wanted some down time before the rest of the Organization returned. She was on her way to her room for a read, and heard the sound of dripping water. Her curiosity got the best of her, as she strayed from the route to her room and headed in the direction of the noise. She sorely hoped that Demyx wasn't back for another hour or two as she continued her cat-like prowl. When she'd finally reached the source of the noise, she noticed the door opened just a bit and she peeked through and what she saw had caused her to heat up more than Axel on a bad day. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink…
There was No. XV, he'd just gotten out of the shower, his towel wrapped loosely around his sculpted waist. She let out a gasp as another wave of images forced their way into her mind. She shook away the images rather harshly and attempted to get away and make it seem like a coincidence that she'd ran into him.
When he exited the bathroom, he wiped his head with another towel and he was in a pair of baggy cargo styled black pants and his black organization shoes. His upper body was still exposed.
Larxene said nothing to him, but they both knew something was up. When she passed him, her cheeks were still as red as rubies, which prompted her to pick up her pace. She stole another glance at his upper body before she had made haste to get to her room.
As Larxene proceeded toward in Castle Oblvion, she'd heard a door slam.
"…Dammit… He left outside…" She grumbled and stomped out the door.
She opened a Corridor of Darkness and approached it. She sighed before stepping through; a strange sense of knowing suddenly overcame her. As she reappeared outside the castle, she looked around, noticing the drab grey and dense fog that seemed to go with the area. She glanced back at the Castle and huffed, but the notion was quickly replaced with a smirk.
The hooded figure before her was No. XV and he turned around reluctantly, his hood over his face, but didn't hide his smirk. Larxene debated briefly on what to do; confront and attack, or talk to him and figure out who he was exactly, because right now, he was in the way of Marluxia's and her plan to overtake the Organization.
No. XV had his hands in the pockets of his cloak and he stood there waiting for her to make a move. Larxene still deciding on a choice, kept a smirk of malice of her face. The two figures stood there and Larxene finally drew one of her knives.
"…Who are you and why are you snooping around here?" Larxene asked, her face molded into something that held her same cute features, her soft rosy lips and electric emerald eyes, but it was something that showed true rage, at least until the person before her revealed his face.
As Larxene stood with her knife above her head and her body twisted in an angle that hid her other handful of knives, her face changed once again, this time into one of true surprise.
No. XV removed his hood and eight frays of hair fell over his eyes. The young man's skin was a light chocolate color and his eyes and hair were a crimson color. His hair flared out a little in the back, and looked like it had been cut with a weapon instead of a pair of scissors or actual hair trimming objects.
He spoke, his voice was calm, yet it held an air of concern and longing, "Arlene… I've been looking for you. I'm sorry it took so long, but…" He stopped and recalled what had happened to her nearly ten years ago.
Larxene dropped her Fodure and grunted and yelled as she ran to him. The pain of the memory of her original self falling to the darkness, and becoming heartless rolled over in her mind and played like a broken record. She was hoping for a tackle of some other form of physical impact when she charged at him, but instead she collided with him and he didn't budge. She hit his chest repeatedly with one hand and placed the other on his shoulder. She was in tears.
"I called for you like you said… B-but you never came! I needed you and you weren't there! I got turned into… into a Nobody!" She bawled and gave up on trying pounding his chest, and just sank into his arms with tears streaming gently down her cheeks.
"Larxene… I'm sorry… I couldn't get to you in time… I'm… I'm sorry…" No. XV said softly, he couldn't think of anything else to say.
"…I really missed you." Larxene sighed and tried to regain herself.
No. XV sighed and wrapped his arms tenderly around her waist. She looked up at him; her eyes were slightly puffy due to her crying and gazed into his crimson orbs. His eyes were filled with sadness.
"You're not going to succeed in this plan you know… The Keyblade wielder will ultimately end you and the rest of the Organization… So why not just come with me?"
"Wh…What? You can't mean that the useless brat in there will destroy us. We're the strongest Nobodies." Larxene wiped her eyes and kept her arms on the older male. Her memories of being somebody hadn't left her, especially since she longed to be whole again, and part of that reason was so that she could be with him again.
"He may be a dense brat, but Larxene… He is the keyblade's chosen one… And that weapon is one of great power, regardless of its user… "
"Okay, I can't argue with that logic… besides… he did manage to beat me once… but I was holding back…" Larxene growled and gritted her teeth; she was still in his arms. She looked up at him and calmed down considerably.
"Hey, do you remember? The Promise?" Larxene asked quietly and rested her head on the boy's shoulder.
The boy held her protectively and nodded, "Yes, I do… I never forgot it, you know."
Larxene giggled and hugged him still. She sighed and recollected once again.
Larxene was walking downtown during the sunset. She was in a chipper mood because she was meeting him again today. She walked out of her job in a hurry, she had worked a little too much and lost track of the time. She was supposed to meet him at the park today. Her outfit of choice was a simple pair of gray shorts with ties on the sides, a pair of sneakers, a yellow crop top and a white zip up hoodie that was opened halfway, and was short. She turned a few corners and jumped a fence. She ran across a busy street and made it to the park. No one was there save for one brown skinned boy with red hair.
Larxene approached the young man from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck affectionately. She giggled and hugged him tightly.
The young man was in a pair of black cargo pants that hung loosely on his waist, and a red shirt that had two Japanese swords on it, crossing each other and taking the shape of an X.
"Hey, I hope I'm not late to see you…" She cooed and loosened her grip on him, so he could turn around.
He faced her and smiled, "I always have time for you…" He leaned forward and kissed her on her lips softly, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deeper, more passionate kiss.
The two kissed for a time, with his arms resting on her waist as they did. When they broke the kiss he smiled, "Whenever you need me… just call my name. Okay? I'll be there. I promise."
Arlene nodded, "You'd better. You're the only guy I've felt this way about. Don't let me down." She smiled again and giggled, she was still in his arms.
"I'll do my best. I promise." He kissed her again and she kissed him back.
After the tender moment, an older lady appeared, his grandmother. She called for him and he kissed Arlene one last time.
Several weeks after that… one day, Arlene was rushing home to her mother after work, and there was a giant black monster that got in her way. She was a prominent fighter in her own right, but this thing wasn't going down. She ran and was cornered. She took a deep breath and whispered his name, and then she screamed it as loud as she could with her final breath as somebody. Meanwhile, while he was training, he got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He dropped to his knees and lost his breath for a moment. Not too long after that did he find out that her world had fallen to the darkness. That's when he resolved to search for her.
"I heard you call me… that is why I'm here now, you know."
She leaned her head on him and hugged him; she remembered the way they used to hang out. She could have sworn that she felt tears coming on.
"We had all those good times… I really missed them you know." He spoke softly in her ear.
"I did too. I was really mad at you… well, at the world in general… I thought you lied to me… I trusted you the most out of every one I know… or, well, knew, at that time…" She sighed and held onto him a little longer.
He couldn't say anything, he just sighed, "I'm sorry I couldn't get there sooner… But I'm here now, so come with me and we can make you whole again…"
Larxene shook her head, "Sorry, I've got something else, another plan to tend to… Please don't interfere anymore, or I will have to destroy you… I don't want to do that."
He released her as she pulled back from his embrace. "…Are you sure?"
She nodded slowly, "I… I'm sure. I have a plan to get my heart back… When I do, that's when I'll come and find you. Okay?"
He nodded slowly and turned his back. He began to walk away from Castle Oblivion and put his hands in the pockets of his cloak. He looked back, Larxene did as well. She gave him a weak smile and turned to walk back inside the castle.
When Larxene got back to the doors of the castle, she sighed and lowered her head, "I'm sorry Zell… But this is the way it must be. I'm sorry, but Nobodies… we'll just fade back into nothing…" She blinked and one single tear rolled down her face and she accepted her fate.
She re-entered the castle slowly and the double doors slammed tightly, but gently behind her. She managed to looked at his warm eyes one last time, then she returned to the observation room with her arms folded and she flopped back down in her seat.
"So, how did it go, No. XII?" Marluxia asked.
Larxene glared at No. XI and huffed, "It's taken care of. Don't worry. Sheesh." She rolled her eyes and crossed her legs.
Marluxia nodded and returned his gaze to the monitors again and sighed. "Well, No. XII, you're up again…"
Larxene huffed again and rose to her feet. She strode out again and went to confront Sora, for what would be her last time.
A/N: Once again, Zell is my Persona/OC. I don't own KH or any of it's characters.