A/N: Forgot to say this in chapter 1…Ooops…
Thanks soooo much to WithMyMadHAtterHat, BMIK, and purefoysgirl for giving me some feedback as this story was being developed!
Chapter 2
While Xigbar was at Castle Oblivion arguing with Axel, Xaldin was checking the final reports that the other members had already submitted in the Castle that Never Was. To Xaldin this was one of the driest duties that the five senior members were forced to complete, but each of Numbers II through VI completed their portion of the work allotted them with minimal complaining. Well, almost all of them. Xaldin straightened his back, causing it to crack in numerous places, and stretched his muscular arms above his dreadlocked head. He closed his violet eyes as he forced tight muscles to relax and yawned loudly. He wasn't supposed to be checking the reports tonight, but Xigbar had nearly begged his friend to switch roles this week. Xaldin couldn't blame the man and, knowing that Xigbar would have simply left if they hadn't come to an arrangement, agreed. So instead of Xigbar signing and handing the reports off, he was making sure that no one followed the other members to the World that Never Was and was free to leave once the last member went through.
Xaldin brought his arms back down and scratched his face absent-mindedly, causing the thick side-burn to break out of its combed shape below his pointed ear. His right hand returned to the white, stone desk and lifted the ink pen that he'd put down. There were eleven neat stacks of paper on the desk already, ten of which were signed and ready to pass on to Vexen to be filed electronically. Xaldin scanned the eleventh report, Demyx's, and sighed. Demyx had been briefed on proper report procedure multiple times by multiple senior members before, so why the young man proceeded to add statements like, "I was totally not chill with them so I, like, totally pwned them with my awesome music," was beyond Xaldin's comprehension. Xaldin tapped the back of the pen on the desk top and raised his eyes to the clock on the white wall. Twenty minutes until the reports were out of his hands and he was off for the night.
Xaldin's eyes wandered around the dimly lit white room that was one of the many within the Castle that Never Was. Outside the window of the small room towered the multiple halls and turrets of the Castle, framed by the never-changing sky of deep blue and violet dominated by the large heart-shaped moon, Kingdom Hearts. The moon provided most of the illumination that the World that Never Was needed.
In the World that Never Was there existed neither day nor night, a concept that the newer members struggled to adapt readily to. Simple clocks had consequently been installed to match the relative timing of the other worlds to create the illusion of time passing as well as to keep the work of Organization XIII progressing smoothly. But occasionally Xemnas would disregard the time and hand out orders when he deemed necessary. Xaldin hoped that tonight he would not give Xigbar any new assignments for Xigbar's sake. Insubordination was punishable by death.
Fifteen minutes left. Xaldin lowered his eyes back to Demyx's unusual report and signed the bottom. All that was left was Number VIII's. Axel had built himself a reputation for pushing some of the rules laid out by Xemnas without actually breaking any. Xaldin stacked the completed reports one on top of one other in order of Number, leaving the pen beneath between two reports to mark where Axel's would eventually fit. Xaldin stood from the desk and moved to the window to stare out at Kingdom Hearts, hovering constantly over the Castle, reminding the Organization of their present goal: the quest to regain their hearts through the completion of Kingdom Hearts.
Xaldin looked out past the white and gray courtyards and walls and into the Darkness that pressed in from all sides. It had been so long since Xaldin had first stepped across into the Darkness and had become a Nobody, almost a decade, and had given up his heart to Darkness. As a Nobody, he was supposed to be devoid of all emotion, as were all other Nobodies and Heartless, and so he wrote off the heavy weight that he felt this night as his mind rationalizing the memories of the girl who had become a victim of fate. Not true sorrow. If he admitted that he was actually capable of feeling, well, that would make his duties much more difficult as well as confirm Demyx's foolish idea that they did have hearts but had simply forgotten how to use them. Scientifically, Xaldin knew that they did not have hearts. He had watched as Xehanort had performed the first experiment on himself, becoming the Nobody called Xemnas by removing his own heart, and had then changed Numbers II through VI into Nobodies. It was impossible to feel.
Xaldin sensed the presence of a Nobody walking toward the room via the hallway beyond the large white door. Turning he walked to the desk as the newcomer burst into the room, radiating impatience. "Number II, why is it that I must come all the way to this stuffy room to collect reports that would usually have been on my desk half and hour ago? Wait," Vexen narrowed his eyes, "where is Number II? Tonight is his allotted night to collect reports. Why are you here, Number III, and not at Castle Oblivion?" Vexen watched Xaldin as the larger man seated himself at the desk.
"You would do well to watch your tone around your superior member, Vexen. I have collected all of the reports but Axel's, and as soon as he has arrived and I have signed the report you will receive them. But until then you will wait." Vexen snorted indignantly and crossed his arms over his coat that bordered one-size too large. His long blonde hair framed a narrow face with sharp features and hard blue eyes.
"You would do well to not let Number II manipulate you. If not for his rank his attitude would have been dealt with long ago."
Xaldin chose to ignore the Vexen's remark and instead sifted through the reports before him. He lifted the upper portion of the stack and set it aside so that when Axel did finally show up he could sign the report quickly and be rid of the annoying scientist. Xaldin glanced up when Vexen chuckled to himself, wary, for a laughing Vexen was a dangerous Vexen. Xaldin's attention was diverted when Axel ported to the center of the room using Darkness.
"Hey, you can calm down now, Axel has arrived." Axel's sarcasm had no outward affect on the two men, who had learned very quickly to try to ignore most of the words that came from Axel. Axel saluted Vexen but missed Vexen's face flash to anger briefly as he turned to Xaldin, pulling his report from within his coat.
Xaldin, on the other hand, saw everything and made a mental note to himself to talk to Xemnas about Axel's behavior before matters spiraled out of control. While Axel had never gotten along well with any of his superiors, Vexen seemed to be the only one he went out of his way to antagonize openly. No, he went for Vexen and Xigbar, but since Axel was here in one piece either Xigbar had pushed Axel off as quickly as possible or had left already.
Xaldin wanted to snatch the report from Axel's hands and sign the damn thing fast so that he would be rid of both members, but dignity made him wait for Axel to saunter over and slowly slide the report across the desk. Xaldin could see the boiling rage growing in Vexen's eyes and tensed, prepared to use his wind manipulation to prevent an all out fight between the two. He was still responsible for the reports and had no intention of spending hours tracking down every previous member and making them fill out new ones.
Luckily Vexen took a deep breath and began tapping his foot impatiently, allowing Xaldin to focus on the report that Axel had finally placed within his reach. Xaldin took the report with a gloved hand and scanned the words quickly. The rather boring front page outlined Axel's movements during the day. He noted with slight suspicion that the routine action of scouting the Pride Lands and the Land of Dragons for Heartless should not have taken as long as Axel stated, but it was not his job to question the report. Xaldin signed the papers and lowered his pen. "You can go now, Axel. Vexen, the files are all yours." Stacking the reports together he held the stack out for the scientist to take. Vexen strode over and waited for Axel to move aside so he could reach Xaldin. Axel took as much time as he could to shift to the side just enough for Vexen to grab the papers, watching the older man from the corner of his view.
Xaldin cleared his throat loudly and Axel returned his gaze to the large man and increased his distance from Vexen. Vexen snatched the papers from Xaldin and backed away from the table. "I will be sure to report Number II's actions, Number III, if you will not." With that Vexen stepped into Darkness and vanished from the room, most likely to return to his lab at the base of the hovering Castle.
"He has a point. Xigbar was acting strange, dealing me a lecture instead of a shot to the head."
"You will refer to him as Number II, Axel, and keep your opinions to yourself. What Number II does is his own business and not for you to worry about."
"Just wondering aloud then, I wonder what could have him so distracted to risk Superior's anger as well as incur Number III's charity." Axel moved to his own portal of Darkness before Xaldin could warn him again. Xaldin stifled an exasperated sigh and stood from the desk, stuffing the pen in a pocket within the coat. He would have to now spend time finding Xemnas and explaining matters as well as find Xigbar before he could cause any more problems. He pushed in the plain white chair and walked to the open door. Finding Xemnas took precedence, so Xaldin set off down the long white hallway in the direction of Xemnas' most common location at this hour while silently debating how to word his argument in Xigbar's favor.
A/N..again:
plz review...pretty please?!
i only played KH once in 20 hours...so plz tell me how this is turning out T.T
till next week!