(AN: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own the plot I'm creating. I do hope you enjoy this chapter!)
The eight nobodies had gathered in the Gray Area, in front of Saix. Although Saix kept only one expression on his face outside of battle, his stone cold demeanor still had readable emotions. His emotion at the moment was no-nonsense.
"I believe you all know your mission. Unless there are any last minute questions, you may go." Saix spoke dangerously, as if daring anyone to speak. No one did. "Then go. I expect regular mission reports." Saix turned away from the eight, and Marluxia turned to the group.
"You heard Saix. Let's go." Marluxia gestures to the side, opening a dark corridor. He stepped through it without another word. Luxord followed him with a smile, and Axel with a smirk and a wave. Vexen and Lexaeus went silently, and Zexion motioned for the Keybearers to go ahead of him. They did, and Zexion brought up the rear, catching a glance from Saix as he left, and the dark corridor closed.
**************TIME SKIP***************
As the eight finished setting up both the basement and top floor, they reconvened at the top floor. Marluxia arrived last, and spoke.
"Sora is now about to enter the castle. I shall go greet him. Zexion, take your team down to the basement, and await further instructions." Marluxia ordered. Zexion nodded, and he and his team left the room. Marluxia put up his hood, then walked over to Namine.
"Namine. Your job is about to begin. Are you ready for it?"
"Yup! I'll make you proud!" Namine responded with a smile.
"I am sure you will…" Marluxia said, leaving the room as well. Luxord and Axel gathered around the orb to watch.
**************IN THE ENTRANCE HALL**********
"That's it! Who are you?" Sora growled, summoning the keyblade. Marluxia said nothing, and advanced.
"WAK! Heartless? Oh yeah? I'll try some magic! Thunder!" Donald screeched. But nothing happened. "Come on! Thunder! THUNDER!" Donald screeched louder, shaking his wand. "Come on… Blizzard! Fire!" Donald yelled, growing more and more confused and unconfident. Donald slumped over as Marluxia walked forward.
"I should think it is obvious. The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and every ability that you ever knew." Marluxia paused for a moment to let the news sink in before continuing. "In this place to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That is the way of Castle Oblivion."
"Castle Oblivion?" Sora repeated in a confused voice. As he did, Marluxia dark corridor end to behind him. Sora rubbed his eyes before turning to face him, completely flabbergasted.
"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past. And you will meet people you miss."
"I miss…? Riku! You mean Riku's here?!"
"If what you want… Is to find him…" Marluxia began, as he held his hand out, and pushed Sora back with a wind of petals. He dashed forward and appeared to go through Sora, and reappeared on his other side. Sora leaped to attack him, but the keyblade went right through him, and Sora stood confused until Marluxia reappeared in front of the door to the first floor.
"What'd you do?" Sora demanded, charging toward him.
"I merely sampled your memories. And from them, I made this." He held up what appeared to be a card, with an image of Traverse Town on it. "To reunite with those you hold dear…" Marluxia threw the card at Sora, who caught it."
"What's this, a card?" Sora scoffed.
"It is a promise for the reunion you seek. Hold the card to open the door. And beyond it, a new world. Proceed, Sora." Marluxia said, as he stood to the side of the door. "To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose…" Marluxia said. He was about to leave before he thought of something else to say. "One more thing… When you search for the things you lost, see if you remember the things you don't remember you lost…" Marluxia added, before Dark Corridoring away for good, leaving Sora and his friends alone."
****************MEANWHILE, IN THE BASEMENT.***************
"So we just have to wait here for now?" Xion asked.
"I'm afraid so. But worry not if you're bored. You will get to meet Sora after a couple floors. Lexaeus will help you with what to say and what not to say." Zexion answered.
"What will you be doing?" Roxas asked.
"I have some research to do…" Zexion responded. "Don't worry, I'll share anything useful with you." Zexion continued, and dark corridored away.
Roxas and Xion sat next to each other, looking around at the empty room. Lexaeus was in some of the lower basements, scouting everything for any useful clues about the castle. Vexen was away in his lab, working on whatever he could to avoid spending time with the others.
"Roxas?"
"Yes Xion?"
"I… I feel strange."
"How so?"
"About the time Sora entered the castle, I just felt this strange sense of dread, like something is about to go horribly wrong, but I don't know what it is. Kind of like before going on a giant heartless mission." Xion said, sounding a little worried.
"I actually have the same thing happening to me… To be completely honest, I think that it's just the mission. It's a big mission that we don't want to fail. That's probably it." Roxas responded.
"I bet you're right too… Although I doubt that anyone else here would admit it, I'll bet the others are probably the same way." Xion said. The idea of Vexen being nervous was not one they could really imagine. "Still… Will you hold me for a little bit?" Xion asked.
"That's not even a question. If you need it, I'll always be here for you." Roxas said, and he did hold Xion close to him, and they sat in silence, as Roxas cradled Xion, who tried to think positive thoughts, and filled her mind with memories of Roxas.
***********IN VEXEN'S LAB*************
"Just don't touch anything besides the computer, Number VI. That's all you're here for. I must go and assist Lexaeus." Was all Vexen said before he left, leaving Zexion alone. Zexion was confounded by the thought that he would touch any of Vexen's things. He didn't need to. So he logged into Vexen's computer and began his search.
Zexion read through all the files Vexen had compiled on Castle Oblivion, and read up on many of the mysterious properties and rooms that it held. After thoroughly exhausting these, he closed the folder, and was about to leave, when he saw a folder that caught his eye, labeled 'REPLICA PROJECT-TOP SECRET' Zexion didn't know what that meant, but as one of the founders of the organization, he deserved to know. The first file was a video that Vexen had created. Every member of the organization kept a diary, and Vexen's was sometimes on video. Zexion was one of few who knew this.
"Today, our thirteenth member has joined the ranks of the organization. Roxas. The Key of Destiny. Wielder of the keyblade. He can't seem to do much yet, but I suspect it won't be too long. Axel is tutoring him, so maybe he'll get some of his spirit. On another note, the Superior has asked me to attempt to recreate the properties of the keyblade. If I am successful, I could give the members of the organization keyblades. Or perhaps properties of keyblades to their weapons. I shall see soon enough."
Zexion thought that Vexen must have been unsuccessful considering their current status. He went to the next one.
"Well, as usual, success has come in a strange way. I was able to replicate the abilities of the keybearer, but only into a sort of puppet. I still need to do some tests to verify that it works."
"Well, I have determined that the puppet has a link to both Roxas and Sora. Because the puppet was given power through Sora's memories that have drifted, the puppet can use the keyblade. The connection to Roxas seems to be the memory. For now, I am referring to the puppet as No. i as it is the first attempt. I will see what happens when the puppet interacts with Roxas…"
Now Zexion was truly intrigued. Who was the puppet. He already had a feeling he knew.
"The puppet has been with the organization for about 3 months now. The Superior gave it the name "Xion." It, like I expected, connected with Roxas quite easily, and then Axel too. It became a she, shaped through the memories of Kairi, if I had to guess. One thing I find strange… I expected either Roxas or Xion to start draining each other's powers… But they haven't. Perhaps that assumption was incorrect. I shall see with time. Also, Marluxia discovered Namine in Castle Oblivion. He has been given the task of befriending her. Perhaps she will be of use to us…"
Zexion clicked on the last file in the folder.
"Well, I have tested both of our keybearers, and yet, they do not drain each other's power. I suppose this is good. We will keep both keybearers after all. My only concern is Sora. He is still a wildcard. It's possible that if either Roxas or Xion came into contact with him, his heart would try and reclaim them. I do hope not… But I cannot say for sure. Regardless of warnings, the Superior says they will both go to Castle Oblivion. He must have some plan, as always…"
Almost nothing could shock Zexion. He had read so much that nothing came as a surprise. Except this. This changed so many things. The main one being that he needed to step up his job as their guardian. As much as he may not want to admit it, he did like the keybearers, and he would protect them. He wondered if this was how Axel felt about them.
Zexion's mission was only just beginning, and despite all of his foresight, he could never predict the things that were to happen to him as he vowed to himself that the keybearers would not come to any harm, in this castle or out.
(AN: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Illusions of Hope! If you did, please leave a review, favorite it and share it with everyone you know and love. Please also send any questions, comments, criticisms or anything you'd like to say to me in a review or PM, and I'll make sure to respond. Also, while the opening cutscene was almost the exact same as the game, I'll be changing up the future scenes to help with the scenario I've created. I hope you continue to enjoy, and I'll see you guys next time.)
