A/N: Welcome, readers all to The Collective in the Dark, the third installment in series.

As usual with these stories - if you don't know what an Arcology is, grab the first chapter of Master of the Dark and have a glance into the notes at the start of it. It's explained there.

I hadn't exactly planned to give this to you to read just yet, as I do sort of have other stories to work on, but I felt like being generous and releasing it a little early.
If you were lucky enough to read the preview of this that used to be tacked on the end of Source of the Dark (it isn't there anymore) then don't, whatever you do, skip the first two chapters. While you'll recognise bits from there, I've rewritten a few parts, made changes, and generally improved it. You'll miss out on a few little things if you skip them.
Finally, as we all know, no part of Kingdom Hearts belongs to me, with the possible exception of my new copy of the games I just got. Which will also be getting some attention from me.

Now, I've gone on talking long enough. Read on, and as usual, enjoy!

Prologue
Excerpt from Section 4 of 'The biography of Grandmaster Sora – From Destiny Islands to Arcology'

Of Grandmaster Sora, it can be said this: while he has at his disposal great and undoubtedly terrifying power, he never uses it without justification, and is rarely seen to use any more than is necessary.
This restraint has been displayed time and again throughout his past, and continued to be shown during our many incidents with the Muren Collective.
As readers will know, the Muren Collective has long opposed us because of our task.
While we see it as our duty to retrieve any artefact with unusual abilities for the safety of the others and the artefact itself, they see it as outright theft. Sora himself has insisted that it is only for the protection of the artefacts, and once has said that there are indeed some artefacts that are better left where they are for the safety of others.
Nevertheless, it is a widely held notion within the Arcology that most outside would inevitably break out in a fight for control over an artefact once it's powers were discovered, and it is this which keeps us going, despite the Collective frequently stopping only just short of killing out teams outright. The medical costs placed on us due to their interventions were taxing, to say the least. Had our Arcology not been self-sufficient, we would surely have been forced to turn to outside assistance – an option that would only have given them the opportunity to slow the recovery, and in turn our efforts.
This is not to say that the state of affairs went on for long. Reluctant leader though he is, Grandmaster Sora has always been known for paying attention to all the things that happen to the Arcology and it's denizens. When the matter reached him, he swiftly took action, arranging two groups of teams.
The first were to scout out an area, find potential ambush locations, trouble spots and retrieve other key information that would aid the second group in their missions.
This second group of teams were the retrieval teams, trained specifically for the tracking down and recovery of artefacts, while simultaneously being ready to defend themselves from an attack by the Collective, handle any curious locals and such. Without the valuable information the reconnaissance teams brought back, the retrieval teams would have suffered far greater losses than we did.
It is well known that foremost among these teams was the one led personally by the First Axel, a personal friend of the Grandmaster, who claims that his vast streak of successful missions and minimal losses is due to his time with Organization XIII, a disbanded and somewhat clandestine group that, as noted in the previous section of this book, was responsible for the dark taint upon our Kingdom Hearts, the source of our power.
A bold plan was hatched by Advisor Roxas, once the Nobody of Sora, but now a complete being in his own right thanks to the discovery allowing him and others to regain or grow their own Heart.
As we covered in the second section of this book, Sora was lured by this Organization to Castle Oblivion, where they made use of the abilities of a young girl named Naminé to alter his memories. Advisor Roxas sought her and this talent out, believing that with her aid, she and select other allies could work to alter the shared collective mind that all members of the Muren Collective are linked to.
For a time, these new tactics worked admirably, but the Collective have shown they are not slow to adapt, nor are they stupid or unwilling. Their answer to our tactics shocked even the Grandmaster himself, but one must admit it was unexpected, and highly effective.
With Naminé's efforts having been unsuccessful up until that point, it became clear they were going to have to come up with another plan to buy themselves time until she could take on the vast united mind of the Collective.
Through all this, even the Grandmaster himself was unaware of a traitor in the ranks, a single member of the Arcology who was a member of the Collective, and indeed had been before either he or the Grandmaster had even heard of what at the time was still the Dark Arcology. It was through him that the Collective manipulated events in an attempt to take our collected artefacts and return them, even before Grandmaster Sora took his current post.
We know now who that traitor is, and that he had once before been involved in treasonous acts committed against our Grandmaster. The memories of those who were present at the time will forever be haunted by what can only be called the showdown between the traitor and the Grandmaster. Suffice to say that we have more than enough evidence to confirm that it is highly unwise to cross Grandmaster Sora, for despite his youth and seeming innocence, he can be capable of extremely harsh, ruthless acts that no one should have to bear witness to.
In the next chapter of this section, we will go into detail on these events, the steps taken to combat them, the results of these actions, and perhaps most unfortunately, the confrontation between the Grandmaster and the traitor. We must regretfully admit that our account of the even is taken from those who were present, and is accurate to the detail.
There is much that happened before then however, so without further ado we must press on into this fourth part of the Grandmaster's biography thus far.

Castle Oblivion

The room had been untouched by everything that had happened since the Organization's departure.
A sketchbook lay on a simple table in the room. Flower-like structures lined the edge of the room.
The door, unused for a long time, was cautiously pushed open and a head poked into view, followed by it's owner.
"I have found them," he announced, though there was no one to hear.
-Are they intact?- a choral voice, heard only by him, answered.
"It appears so. There seems to be no sign of the presence of Arcology members as yet."
-Be aware. Our agent was certain there would be someone coming.-
"If there is, they haven't arrived yet. I'm not picking up any trace of Arcology power or members anywhere in the Castle."
-The information was detailed. Rai Nek insisted that Sora's Arcology had dispatched members, and has their arrival logged. They must be there.-
"They're doing a very good job of hiding then."
"Talking to yourself?" a new voice said. "You've been with that Collective too long, Vexen."
"Zexion? Where are you?"
The air behind Vexen rippled faintly, and he was pushed into one of the flower structures by an unseen force.
"Now, Naminé!" snapped the voice Vexen had identified as Zexion's.
Naminé appeared at the table, quickly taking up her sketchbook and completing the unfinished drawing. As she drew Vexen in a pod, it became real, a pod forming around him.
When it was complete, Axel appeared.
"Nicely done," he complimented them.
"They know what we've done," Naminé warned. "I've put him to sleep, but the Collective is still in contact with him."
"Can you use that?" he pointed at Vexen's pod.
"Not by myself. These pods enhance what I can do, but there are limits."
"Ienzo?"
Ienzo stepped out from his concealment, tapping his chin thoughtfully. His ever-present lexicon was in the other hand, left open on one of the later pages.
After a few moments consideration he replied, "I might be able to figure something out. Naminé and I can work on it back at the Arcology and you've got a mission to complete before we can do that."
"I know. My team will be here shortly, they'll take the remaining pods to the Reliquary, and Vexen's one to your lab."
"What will you do after?"
"Rox pointed out an Artefact in Agrabah he wanted me to pick up," Axel answered, emphasising the capital A in Artefact. It was used to indicate a high profile or high-risk artefact. "Apparently two other teams have come back badly injured, so it's been passed up to me. And I do have a high success rate on my missions, you know," he added with a smugly confident air.
"Having a real Heart suits you," Ienzo noted.
"I know. You haven't changed a bit though."
"I just don't show it as much as you do," he replied without a change in expression.

Disney Castle
Hall of the Cornerstone – Beneath the throne room

Terra poked his head into the room, quickly scanning it for anyone present, then beckoned behind him as he entered. Ventus and Aqua followed.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Ventus murmured.
"Why shouldn't we?"
"I remember Sora saying something about it protecting the castle."
"Axel told me his little gadget will do the same thing, over a larger area and protect it from even more than it is."
"Yeah... but... stealing the Cornerstone?"
"We're not stealing it. We're replacing it with something superior."
"We don't even know if Axel's device actually works," Aqua pointed out. "His tests haven't exactly been the paragon of scientific accuracy."
"Roxas assured me it would be safe. I trust him. He wouldn't authorise us to do this if he wasn't certain."
"I don't know Terra..."
"Stop complaining. The last thing we need is for someone to come down here and see us."
"So you admit this is wrong then?" Ventus asked. "I mean if we have to sneak around like thieves-"
"Will you cut that out? Honestly, what's got into you two?"
"Ven does have a point, Terra."
"If you want to bail out, go ahead. I'll take the Cornerstone to the Reliquary myself."
"What if someone finds out what we've done?" Ventus persisted
"Why would they find out?"
"Oh, I dunno, maybe if they come down here and see it?"
"They won't have a reason to check it. Now come on, are you going to help me shift this thing or not?"

Twilight Town
Sunset Terrace

Hayner and Olette were sat watching the sunset as Pence puffed up to them. He took a few moments to catch his breath, then as he couldn't keep it to himself any longer burst out, "You gotta hear this! Remember way back, there were those guys in black who kept coming round the town?"
"I remember," Hayner grimaced. "That blond haired guy was good with a struggle bat."
"Yeah," Olette laughed. "He beat your record, remember?"
"What's got them in your sights, Pence?"
"They haven't been seen again for ages. But I reckon I saw one of them again a while back."
"Who?"
"Roxas – the blond guy who beat your record. When those black creatures were here, I swear I saw him, but he didn't have that black coat on."
"So?"
"I saw him again today, and I saw the red-haired guy too. Ever since that huge white tower appeared, I've been seeing them appear again."
"What's so special about that?"
"Don't you want to know why they disappeared, or why they're not wearing the coats any more?"
"Not if it means he beats any more of my records."