I know what you're thinking. 'Finally! An update!'. xD
Every day after work, I've been meeting Axel at the clock tower to have sea-salt ice cream. It really is salty! But still sweet, too. How come it tastes so familiar?
The other members have been teaching me more about how to fight and stuff. But more importantly, I'll be going to a place called Castle Oblivion in about a week, though I'll still have to collect hearts there…
...
A man walked along a grey path, an echo coming from each and every step he made . It had been twenty-three days since Roxas had first joined the Organization, but he had gone missing at around the same time the other members were sent to Castle Oblivion. It didn't make sense. Even though he didn't have a heart, even though there was this everlasting nothing inside of him, he still worried about it, somehow. He didn't understand how such a thing was possible.
"Axel," said Saïx as he passed by, stopping. "I have a message from Lord Xemnas. We have reason to believe one or more of the members assigned to C.O. intend to betray us."
No surprise there. Marluxia, Larxene, Lexaeus, Zexion, and Vexen had all been suspicious in their own way, and it wasn't hard at all to figure out which ones were most likely to be 'the traitors'. They probably thought that the castle was a mere floating structure, unaware of the secrets it held within or the way Xemnas truly ran things in here. Every member was watched to an extent.
He turned to Saïx. "And I take it that's straight from his lips, huh?"
"Find them, and dispose of them," ordered Saïx. After observing Axel for a bit, he continued. "Even Roxas. If he fails us, we still have the puppet."
"Eh…?" At first, he thought he had misheard, but Saïx's words had been loud and clear. It was useless to deny. "Roxas? He was sent there too?"
Axel couldn't help but be surprised. He could hardly feel anything nowadays, but a slight feeling within his chest still froze over. He didn't have to imitate emotions from his memories to comprehend what he was feeling at this moment.
Still, there was something about this that bothered him. It was disadvantageous for both the Organization and for himself, as he was still pretty much a zombie at this point. Why would Roxas of all people be sent there, after all? He did notice the kid trying to chat with Larxene in the past week, but surely there was no way he would join that group of traitors…?
Instead of replying, Saïx simply walked away.
…
It had been twenty-three days now since he had first worn the coat, and the first day since having moved from the Castle That Never Was.
Roxas hadn't brought much with him, only his black coat and an ice-cream stick that had the words WINNER on it. He had wanted to ask Axel about it, but didn't manage to find the time as he and the rest went to the fortress that was their new home. Hopefully, he would get another chance to ask him about it in the future.
Zexion had explained to Roxas earlier that Castle Oblivion was a place intended to research memories, which was important for Nobodies who only have their memories to draw personalities from. Roxas didn't really understand, he himself not having any memories from before joining the Organization, but he nodded anyway. A strange Nobody unlike any other had appeared there recently, whose name was named Naminé. She was a sort of memory witch, and Marluxia had been put in charge of her alongside the castle.
Six members in total had settled in this new base, as far as he knew. The senior members Lexaeus, Zexion, and Vexen would reside in the basements, while Marluxia, Larxene, and he would stay at the upper half.
He and Larxene stood in the middle of an empty white room, similar yet completely different to the other castle. Unlike that one, this one was much lighter and had a lot less of strange symbols etched into its walls, but at the same time with an extremely confusing layout. Without their corridors of darkness, they would easily get lost. In the middle of the room was a crystal orb.
Naminé was a key piece to their plan, as was some kid named Sora. Somehow, he was supposed to help them take over the Organization.
But first, he had to be lured to the castle. Marluxia himself would be filling in on that task.
…
It had begun.
"Ahead lies something you need. But to claim it…you must lose something that is dear to you," Marluxia's voice boomed from the crystal ball.
Looking into its display, Roxas saw a young boy with brown spiky hair, wearing large yellow shoes, a white and black overjacket as well as a baggy red jumpsuit, along with gloves. It was the most ridiculous outfit he had ever seen, but then again, he had hardly seen any outfits in his entire life. Not only that, but something about the boy felt…strange, when he looked at him. Without a doubt, this was definitely Sora. Their key to overthrowing the Organization.
Suddenly, a dark corridor materialized in front of them. "Why, hello there! Larxene, Roxas."
"Axel?!" Roxas asked, and the familiar cloaked redhead walked out with a smile. "You didn't tell me you were coming to Castle Oblivion too!"
"Well, I was going to tell you but didn't get the chance," replied Axel, shrugging.
That was probably his own fault. Roxas had neglected hanging around in the clock tower for the past few days, and upon being reminded, he immediately regretted it. After all, it might be a long, long time until they had the chance to eat ice cream together again.
"It's about time you showed up!" said Larxene. "I wonder what took you so long? Could it be that you didn't want blondie here," she glanced at Roxas. "…to know that you'd be coming?"
"I only needed to ask our leader about something. Nothing more."
Our leader? Roxas wondered why Axel would need to ask Xemnas about it, but his attention was caught back to the crystal orb when some sort of duck dressed in blue waved its staff around for some reason, trying to call out some sort of magic attack at the cloaked man in front of him, but always cutting itself off for some reason. It also called Marluxia a Heartless, though it should've been pretty obvious that he wasn't. These people were really strange.
"The moment you set foot in this castle, you began to forget. You've forgotten every spell and ability you know."
Roxas frowned at that, before turning around to face the wall. "Blizzard!" he called out, and a block of ice materialized and launched itself away, before shattering itself against the wall. His attempt attracted the stares of the two older Nobodies. Larxene laughed.
"Heh, you actually believe that? Relax, brat." She gestured towards the little girl nearby, sitting in a white chair. She had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore a short white dress, her attention fixed downward on the notebook in her lap. "She's the one in control of everything, so there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Just don't try that again, or I'll get really annoyed."
Larxene was right, this worry of his had been kind of stupid. It was silly to think that he and the other members of the Organization would be affected by the same power, since that would be disadvantageous to them all. There was no way Marluxia would've attempted if that were the case.
There was something about the girl that made it hard for him to turn away. Something that was…drawing him, towards her, and she also had an air of familiarity.
"That's Naminé, isn't it?" asked Axel.
"In this place, to lose is to find and to find is to lose."
"Of course. Isn't it funny how someone who looks so innocent can be such a devious little witch?"
"Here you will meet people you know. People you miss."
Deciding to think about it another time, Roxas looked back to the orb. Sora hadn't been the only one Marluxia ended up luring here, he was joined some sort of duck sorcerer and a tall, bipedal dog with a turtle shield. At the last line, they all appeared to react intensely.
"Riku?! You mean Riku's here?!"
"The king?! You mean the king's here?!"
And by the looks of it, the three of them had come here in search of their king…some person by the name of King Riku, he guessed. He wondered if anyone from the Organization would try and search for Xemnas if he ever went missing, but he doubted it. If that happened, someone else – probably Saïx – would assume command and resume activity as normal. Those three must really admire their king.
"…and Roxas?" asked Axel. Roxas hadn't really been listening to their conversation, but the mention of his name caught the boy's attention.
"Yeah, he's in on it too," confirmed Larxene. "Got it memorized, Axel?"
Axel showed annoyance at his catchphrase being stolen, but decided to let it be, before looking back at the crystal orb. In it, Sora was displayed as he walked closer towards a door, and held out a glowing card with triple spikes that made it look a bit like a crown. Then, he vanished into a white light. From what Roxas understood, he wasn't about to advance to the next floor just yet, as he would have to travel through his memories first.
At the same time, Marluxia hadn't returned despite having already done what was needed. Either he was pitifully waiting on the second floor until Sora showed up, or had gone someplace else. It was hard to tell.
"So what's so special about Sora anyway?" asked Roxas, continuing to watch him as he and his two queer friends emerged into a dark town. "I don't get it."
Axel opened his mouth. "He is the k-"
"The kid who beat Ansem," finished Larxene, cutting him off. "I suppose you didn't notice, but he also happens to wield the Keyblade, just like you. Not feeling so special anymore, huh?"
What…? Surprised, Roxas turned to the crystal orb again to see Sora facing several Heartless with a key-shaped weapon. A Keyblade, and one that appeared completely identical to the one that he himself wielded. He hadn't really thought about it before, but it did make sense. There was no way he was the only Keyblade user around, after all, and so he accepted it. But another question still lingered on his mind.
"Who's Ansem?" he asked.
"A sentient Heartless," said Axel. "Even after falling into darkness, he retained his will and went on to unleash Heartless onto all the other worlds. Just like us, he had desired Kingdom Hearts, but for another reason."
"The idiot thought it was made of pure darkness and hoped to absorb its power, but turned out that it was made of light," explained Larxene. "Hah! Obliterated himself in his mad quest for power."
"But you said Sora beat him," Roxas pointed out.
"It's complicated, okay? I'd rather not delve into the whole Ansem business."
Seeing that she probably wouldn't continue on, Roxas moved his attention back to the orb. It looked like this 'Sora' was going to take quite a while before he got to the next floor, but it was still interesting to watch his adventures and battles. It was neither important nor surprising, but he couldn't help but notice that the boy used his Keyblade in battle differently, using a different style. While he certainly took his time in interacting with the creation of his memories, he and his 'bodyguards' (what else could they be?) were already noticing the oddity of it all.
After about half an hour, though it was difficult to judge exactly without any clocks around, the boy had found the exit at last, and entered into the second floor along the other two. There, a cloaked man was waiting for them.
"Well? Did you enjoy meeting your memories?"
"Yeah. It was good to see everyone again, but…" Sora faltered. "What do you really want from me?"
"What do you have to give?"
Then, the covered Marluxia began to approach them. Sora readied himself by summoning his Keyblade, while his two bodyguards also assumed battle stances, all prepared for a fight. The purpose of this fight was to give the boy the illusion that he was fighting for something and that they were the bad guys, even though it was actually meaningless. It also made it easier for Naminé to overwrite his memories bit by bit. Roxas anxiously glanced to his right to see her uncomfortable expression, and then to the left to see a bored Larxene and…hold on, where was-
"Hello!"
Right behind Marluxia, Axel had materialized with a smile on his face, unworried at all that he was intruding. Larxene sighed and shook her head as she watched him interrupt. The trio of heroes were on-guard by this newcomer.
"What do you want?" asked Marluxia.
Still smiling, Axel put his hands against his waist. "No hoggin' the hero. I got bored watching you take the spotlight."
"Hmph." After a moment of silence, Marluxia turned around and threw a card at him – the redhead caught it effortlessly, and his smile became a wide grin. "Then perhaps you'd like to test him."
"Perhaps I would."
What are you doing, Axel?! Roxas felt tempted into yelling, but restrained himself as he glanced to the side.
Larxene's face had become a bemused one by then, and she sat back as she watched the crystal ball with interest. Unsure about the situation right now, he decided to do the same. There was no need to worry. Shortly afterwards, Marluxia vanished into a corridor of darkness and appeared nearby in the room they were in, before joining them as they watched Axel do his thing.
"Who am I? Oh, my name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he greeted Sora and co, who were all suspicious about him. While he talked lightly, he also appeared to be mocking them at the same time. It was different to the Axel that Roxas had gotten to know over the past few weeks.
Then Axel summoned his two fiery chakrams, and a battle ensued. Roxas had full confidence in him, and all the while, Naminé continued to draw in her notebook.
Once again, I have no idea where I'm going with this, so nothing much has happened yet. Things should begin to diverge from the original plot by Chapter 2.
I already have a basic structure planned out for DoM, but it's just putting it into words that's the problem (sorry if this chapter is just a large jumble of words). This story will be faithfully sticking to the source material, although I'll be using this opportunity to explore plot points that were only mentioned in the original story. I think you'll like what I have planned for the last few chapters...assuming I get that far.
