Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Doi.
Title sucks and really has nothing to do with the rest of the plot. Kind of a filler.
Rating because I wanted to cover my ass. xP
A Proposed Summary of What This Story May Become: Organization XIII from before Chain of Memories through, at least, the Prologue of II. Focused on several strategic characters, switching focus throughout the story.
Planned Couples: Vexen/Larxene, Roxas/Axel, Saix/Xemnas/XIV?
Grah, I live... It's been awhiles since I've written anything on ol' ff(dot)net...
Warnings: This thing's probably crap... most likely, I would say. It started as a dabbling in my journal and I decided I should continue writing it, for whatever reason. Since there's nothing bad/raunchy like I had envisioned, yet, it's going right here. I spent some time fixing the italics on here and spellchecked it, but... other than that I haven't read it much... (I have a policy against reading my own writing, makes me not post it and stuff.) Sorry my writing up here sounds so junky. I swear, a good chunk of the writing down there is much better.
Have fun and good luck.
Chapter I - Overrun
The Hall of Empty Melodies was as silent as a tomb, save for the soft clicking of black boots on its upper hallway's floor. Normally, the figure would not be wandering the castle; he would be content to spend his freetime experimenting and studying in his lab. However, the recent increase in the Organization's members had lessened his usual workload considerably. So much so that he had actually become bored with his scientific 'hobbies'; the same hobbies he would have given his right arm for years ago, just to have more time to do them. The Chilly Academic was sure that there was some irony in that, but he was much too frustrated to find it.
Right now, he had been formulating a complaint to the Superior about the newer members that appeared to be running him out of a job. It wasn't that he could pull off those long shifts of travelling to other worlds, completing missions - not that he wanted to admit it, but he was getting older - but at least he would feel more useful if he did. Having to conduct experiments to 'confirm suspicions' about the Heartless or his fellow Nobodies was a bit pointless and, frankly, insulting. It almost felt like the only reason Xemnas kept him around was because their somebodies were old colleagues. It felt akin to being an old sock - not a particularly favorite old sock - that had lost its mate. Who would want to wear only one, ugly, dirty, old sock with there being so many other complete pairs? Due to the fact that the Organization was filled with Nobodies, which were a dime-a-dozen these days, they were all probably just as disposable as that same sock. Vexen's musings of his futile, near non-existance were so overpowering, he didn't notice the presence of another intruding on his sanctuary.
"Hey!" shouted Xigbar, as he energetically patted Vexen on the back. The Freeshooter laughed as his icey friend was knocked out of his thoughts and very nearly over the railing of the hall. The man continued to laugh as he pulled Vexen away from the railing and, inadvertantly, right onto the floor.
The Chilly Academic managed to get his wits about him and helped himself back to his feet. Turning to the one-eyed hyena next to him, Vexen greeted him. "What brings you here, Number II?" he forced out, politely as possible.
Finished with torturing the poor man for now, Xigbar replied, "Eh, figured I'd take a scenic route around the castle before completing my last task for today." Xigbar grinned at Vexen, "But what about you?! I don't think I've ever seen you wandering the castle like this before! Are you and your test tubes having a lover's spat?"
Vexen restrained himself from rolling his eyes. This was the reason he disliked being in this man's company. He revelled in the discomfort of others. He snarled, "Familiarity tends to breed contempt at times." Deciding that he had brainstormed enough for his complaint, he made to leave but was stopped by the Freeshooter.
"Hey, where're ya going?" he asked.
Vexen pulled out of Xigbar's grasp. "To Superior. I wished to speak with him before the meeting this evening." Again he tried to leave alone, but Xigbar would not have that.
"Actually, I just came from there. Xemnas is having a chat with our new member and had asked for some privacy," Number II looked a tad peeved, "Kicked me out and everything."
What little color was in Vexen's face vanished. Another new member? Why, that would make it... six! Six new members that were over running their little nest away from civilization. Saix seemed quiet and refined compared to the rest, but the Superior had taken a great liking to the Luna Diviner, and now treated him more like his number two than Xigbar. Demyx was a wimp, plain and simple. The only reason Vexen tolerated him was because the Melodious Nocturne made him feel like he wasn't the most worthless of the bunch. Luxord... truth be told, Vexen didn't know much about the gambler... but he was one of the 'newbies' as it were, so he couldn't possibly be that great. Axel and Marluxia were... well, Axel and Marluxia. Both had a cockiness and confidence about them that Vexen despised (or perhaps coveted).
A sixth one? Vexen would rather die.
Once again, Vexen felt the prickly sensation of being pulled out of his own thoughts as he was literally dragged by the arm along the room's upper floor. "What. The. Hell. Xigbar." he spat slowly, trying to hold his ground without overdoing it and falling on his ass again.
Xigbar's face had his trademark grin again, "Well... I've decided that I want YOU to be my accomplice as we check out our dear Number XII." Summoning a portal, he continued to drag Vexen out from the Hall and through the darkness to Where Nothing Gathers, their meeting hall.
This hall, similarly to the previous one, had a feeling of emptiness to it, as was per usual to the rest of the Castle and the World That Never Was. The meticulously clean white walls and ceiling made it nearly impossible to know how large the room actually was and the fact that the only things in the room were their obscenely tall, white thrones did not exactly have a calming effect on those with the fear of large confined areas. Naturally, this was not an issue with anyone of the Organization, since they had been repeatedly told that they had no hearts and could not feel fear, but it was still something to take note of.
Vexen snatched his arm away from Xigbar as soon as they had materialized onto the floor of the room, behind one of the thrones. Number IV curiously looked around the room to see their Superior, Xemnas, quite clearly from his vantage point. Searching the other thrones, he saw that none of the others were filled, making the assumption that Xemnas's companion was in the seat that he and Xigbar were hiding behind.
"Dammit," whispered Xigbar. Vexen couldn't help but smirk as the Freeshooter's plan was foiled. It would be no use now to port to a different location; Vexen was surprised that their Superior had not noticed their entrance the first time. He resigned to leaning against their newest member's pedestal, listening to the clear voice of Xemnas decending to his ears.
"...suppose you understand, but I will expect you to pull your own weight around here. I will not tolerate any slacking off on your part due to your... differences..."
Vexen's brow furrowed. What possible differences could this new member have that would encourage Superior to address them at induction? He tapped Xigbar on the shoulder and whispered, "Differences?"
The one-eyed man whispered back, though not at all as subtly as his partner in crime, "Dif- oh, that's right. You haven't seen h-" Xigbar's sentence was cut off as a black cloaked figure fell gracefully through the air and landed in front of them. Clearly, their conversation had been overheard. Xigbar laughed, bashfully this time, "Well, hey - Larxene." A bead of sweat ran down his forehead as a fourth Nobody joined their band on the floor. "And Xemnas..." he mumbled.
Xemnas's only facial reaction to Xigbar's appearance was the slow, unimpressed blink of his eyes, "As you know already Number XII, this is Xigbar." For the Chilly Academic however, the Superior raised an eyebrow as he did in the infrequent moments that he was surprised, "And this is our Number IV, Vexen. Vexen, this is Larxene."
The twelfth member's eyes focused on the blonde-haired man. "Hn, it's an honor... Vexen." The Nobody named Larxene gave a small mock-bow to her superior officer. As she raised her head again, she gave what sounded like a high-pitched snort and their eyes caught each other.
Perhaps it was because of Vexen's recent lack of contact with any sort of being, complete or "in", but once they caught his attention, Larxene's blue eyes grounded him to her, the shade reminding him of the ice attacks that he controlled, or even the chemicals he dabbled in when they were mixed together. Regardless, he couldn't seem to look away, the Savage Nymph's spell too strong for him.
By what Vexen could only call an act of God, Xemnas had walked in his field of vision and spoke to him, "...Vexen?"
That snapped him out of his reverie and he cleared his throat, "Ah, yes, Superior?"
Again Xemnas looked surprised at Vexen, but brushed it off for the moment, "Xigbar said you wished to speak with me about something, Number IV. Is that still true?"
Vexen looked from Superior to the Freeshooter to Larxene. It did not feel like the most suitable moment to complain to their leader about the new members when one of the new members was no further than six feet away. "It can... wait, Superior."
Xemnas would have pressed Vexen to speak, but their small party was further interrupted by Numbers VII, VIII and XI entering the room and seating themselves. Deciding to wait after their evening meeting, Xemnas nodded to the Chilly Academic before porting himself to his chair. Larxene gave a chuckle at Vexen again and followed suit; Xigbar used his power over space to get to his, leaving Vexen alone on the floor. As the remaining stragglers began appearing on their seats, Vexen took one last moment to regain composure and finally took his seat.
As he appeared he was calmly greeted with an "Evening, Vexen" from his right-hand neighbor, Zexion. As the lowest ranked member of the original six, Zexion got along quite well with Vexen; Number VI was a very patient Nobody and since they had a history together, Vexen had no need to worry about his ulterior motives, as Zexion had always informed him of them. "Zexion," he returned in kind with a nod.
"Yo, Vexen!" shouted Zexion's other neighbor, making the two older members flinch.
"Hope you've had a lovely day," continued the firey Axel. He sat with one elbow on the arm of his chair; his chin rested in his hand, "I know I couldn't think of anything all day except the icey bore that's always shacked up at home here."
Vexen hissed, "Shut up..."
The Flurry of Dancing Flames, however, just kept pushing on, "Ooooh, so cold today..." he flashed a smile.
"Shut up, Number VIII-"
"That will do, Vexen," interrupted Xemnas, cutting the two Nobodies' bickering time to a close. Satisfied when everyone was silenced, he began the meeting, "Before we start with our daily reports, I would like to introduce you to our Number XII, Larxene..." Some murmurs of welcome were heard. "Now then, today's events..."
The Chilly Academic listened with little interest in the goings-on of his companions, catching small pieces of information here and there. Xaldin's council with the Queen of Hearts ... Demyx scouting the Underworld ... Axel's trip to Agrabah ... It dragged on and on until finally Xemnas turned to Vexen. "Findings support assumptions similarly to yesterday's..." Vexen found it hard to keep from yawning at his own day's activities. He firmly believed that watching wallpaper dry really was more interesting than listening to himself recount his experiments. "The quantities and principle of equilibrium dictate..." Scratch that. Listening to someone giving an account of watching wallpaper dry was more interesting.
Nearing the end of their meeting, Xemnas announced one final addendum, "Due to our Organization's increasing size, I have decided that a change in structure is neccessary. As Marluxia reported," he nodded to the Graceful Assassin, "We have aquirred an additional territory and I would be remiss if we did not take advantage of this to branch out. Within the next few weeks, we will be stocking Castle Oblivion and preparing it as our own, so that several of our members will be positioned there."
Vexen sat on his seat, taking in this new information. Splitting up the Organization... this could actually work for him. As long as enough of the members were sent to this other Castle, he could probably scrape some of his old jobs back at the Castle That Never Was. This could actually work very well.
The pink-haired male raised a question, "How will leadership be decided in Oblivion?"
The Superior gestured to Marluxia, "I have decided that, unless some grievous event changes my mind, you will be the leader, as it was you who found the Castle for us. Additionally," he continued, "Axel and Larxene will assist you there." Vexen gave a silent cheer. "And, for some time, I intend for some of our older members to assist and guide you as well. Zexion, Lexaeus and Vexen will join you. This ends our meeting." The other members began porting out of the hall to their own separate rooms. "Vexen, I believe you needed to speak with me about something?" Xemnas focused on Number IV and waited until the rest of the members had left for him to speak.
Except Vexen didn't speak. His jaw slackened, eyes stared into the distance, as he tried to process that last little bit of information his Superior bombed him with. Marluxia... Axel... joining... them...
The Superior stared expectantly for a few minutes before sighing, "Vexen. Is there som-"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I'M GOING WITH -THEM- TO... TO -THERE-??"
Now, it was Xemnas's turn to take an extended pause. He knew very well of Vexen's loathing of a majority of their Organization, and had expected some sort of objection on the Chilly Academic's part but not a full-blown outburst. No matter. As the leader, he would not allow such a thing to put a hitch in his schedule. "Yes, Vexen, I am sending you to Castle Oblivion with the others. Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?" He watched Vexen breathing deeply, trying to catch his breath after exploding like he had. "Vexen..."
The blonde man thought, 'He's not about to give me any answers until I answer him, is he...' He drank in another breath, "I wanted to discuss my current workload." Xemnas held a stern face, but allowed Vexen to continue. "Now, I'm not saying it's too hard for me; frankly, it's much too easy." A raised eyebrow urged him on. "I'm just... Well, Superior, I really think that, what with everyone rushing around to outside worlds, that I could be apart of some of those outside duties."
Xemnas spoke, "Your strengths and abilities are better suited to lab work, Number IV."
Vexen recoiled a little, "I... know that. I just would feel more of use to the Organization as a whole if I had... more on my plate, I suppose."
The two sat in silence for a minute or two before Xemnas finally replied, "I can see how couped up one can feel, stuck indoors for hours on end. Which is why I am confident in my decision of sending you to Castle Oblivion." Vexen's mouth simply dropped and he tried to protest, but Xemnas held up his hand, "You appear so concerned with being of use, I don't see how you can object to being of use, albeit away from here. I'll expect you to join Marluxia's group."
ZOMG, Cliffhanger. And a bad one at that.
Review if you dared to read it all.