Chapter Three

After a short time, the castle stood looming before us. I allowed Demyx to pass me and open the door, seeing as my hands were somewhat full. Obviously, it would have been considerably easier to simply use a corridor of darkness to take the girl to the castle, but I was not sure if such strong, concentrated darkness would negatively affect her already injured and weak body, which had been bombarded by the darkness of the Heartless barely a quarter hour before. In addition, she still had a heart, and a strange scent, making it even more likely that the darkness could possibly affect her in a less than favorable way.

Demyx opened the large doors leading into the Castle That Never Was, and I walked in, Demyx following close behind and shutting the doors. I scented Marluxia briefly before he appeared, poking his head out of a nearby doorway and blinking groggily at us. Marluxia, Number XI of the Organization, the Graceful Assassin, was not particularly a person of the night, preferring to rise as his plants did, with the ascent of the sun in the sky.

"Keep it down, would you?" he yawned, covering his mouth. He stopped with his mouth partly open as he comprehended the scene, his eyes widening slightly in surprise as he sighed.

"…Dammit Demyx, what did you make Zexion bring back?" Honestly, was the language really necessary…? But I digress.

Indignant, Demyx stared straight back.

"I didn't make him bring anything back! Besides, he was the one who carried her here, and she needs help, she was bleeding and on the ground and there were Heartless and-"

Annoyed, Marluxia shoved Demyx into the wall before walking over to the girl, who I had briefly set down. I glanced at him as he kneeled down next to her.

"We found her in the Dark City, collapsed after battling or running from the Heartless. We have no idea who she is, or possibly, who she was, or where she came from…"

"That's an interesting story…" Marluxia replied, gently turning her head towards him with his hand. The girl visibly stiffened at his touch.

Of course, now that Demyx had been quiet a grand total of ten seconds after being thrown into the wall, which he was rather accustomed to by now…

"Zexion, her injury!"

I glanced at him in annoyance, rolling my eyes slightly. Did he think I would just let the girl die? That would be rather… heartless, even for me.

"Relax, Demyx, she is fairly stable at the moment. Bring her to Vexen, he should have adequate medical supplies for this type of injury." Not to mention plenty of other "equipment," as he calls it, for his experiments…

"But he might…" Turn her into something or experiment on her? Well, it was not unheard of… but he would not dare touch her until the Superior learned of her presence. Besides, Vexen was a fellow scientist, brilliant even when he had his heart and Number IV of the Organization. As such, I generally trusted him.

"Number IX, that was an order. He will not harm her, and she needs blood."

He glanced at me, looking like a scolded puppy, but nevertheless, picked up the girl and walked off. I sighed, holding my head with my hand.

"So it looks like you've brought a new toy for us to play with, Number VI," Marluxia smirked at me. "She looks like she will be quite interesting…"

"Number XI, the Superior will decide her fate. I am sure he will tell us more tomorrow. Goodnight."

I walked away, towards my room, feeling Marluxia's questioning gaze for a moment until he headed back to his own. Approaching my room, I half-smiled, scenting someone nearby.

"Axel, surely you should be asleep at this late hour?"

The fiery red-head, Number VIII of our Organization, also known as the Flurry of Dancing Flames, stepped out of the shadows, grinning widely at me.

"Well, Zexy, aren't you supposed to still be on patrol?"

"Don't call me Zexy, Axel. We found someone in the city, a young girl.

His jade eyes widened in surprise slightly.

"A Nobody?"

I shook my head.

"She has a heart, as far as I can tell. Demyx took her to Vexen to stitch up a wound in her leg, as well as give her some blood. She appears to be around Roxas's 'age.'"

I watched in amusement as Number VIII crossed his arms, looking just a tad annoyed.

"I suppose… another kid his age besides Namine will do him some good."

I grinned slightly at his reaction.

"Calm down, Flurry. This girl doesn't seem like the Key's type."

He raised an eyebrow at me, looking slightly bemused.

"Schemer, why exactly would I care what the Key's type is?"

Glancing up at him, my grin widened. Instead of answering him, I simply opened the door of my room.

"Goodnight, Number VIII. As I said, don't worry about the new girl. Number XIII will remain yours."

As I stepped into my room and closed the door, I heard a slightly taken aback Axel comment behind me.

"Zexy, you see more than you let on… 'night."

I felt his scent of fire and smoke grow fainter as he walked away towards his own room. I allowed myself to relax, hanging up my coat near the door and removing my boots. Realizing I still head the girl's blood and scent on me, I grabbed my coat and tossed it into the basket, catching a whiff of her scent, one of rain and flowers- snapdragons, I believe-, now that it was no longer masked by the scent of Heartless. I glanced upwards, recognizing the same scent in the Superior's room. Vexen must have already fixed her leg. I shook my head slightly, wondering why I was still thinking of the girl, and then took a shower to get her blood and scent off of me. I prepared myself for bed as usual, picking up a book about illusions and reading some of the ancient text before I went to sleep. Even with this distraction, my last though before drifting off to sleep was wondering what the girl's fate would be…

Hey guys, sorry, but I won't have another chapter up tonight most likely. My family took a short vacation this weekend, and I haven't had a chance to type of Chapter 4 yet. I'll have it up early this week hopefully. Sorry guys, hope you'll keep reading.

Charox JarKai