A/N Woops, I forgot to update last week, Heh heh...

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.


He pulled a free hanging cobweb from his hair and peered behind the coffee pot. No mug. This was the twelfth room Marluxia had looked in, and there was no sight of Xemnas' stupid ceramic. In fact, this whole operation had succeeded in getting him dusty, sticky, and angry.

He'd searched behind all the block bases erected in Nothing's call, the red and blue horror of Naught's Approach, and even the small opening of the air conditioning vent (which wasn't the most obvious spot for a mug, but strange things tended to happen in the Organization HQ, so a mug in a vent was nothing). He found nothing but cobwebs, and lost candy bars.

Marluxia looked around the room, mentally checking off all the places he'd searched. The cushions between the sofa, the end table, even the white hanging chandelier (for which he was glad no one was present for) all of which proved to be fruitless. Sighing, he decided to try the pantry. He imagined at least the pantry would be relatively dust free. He coughed, patted some of the dust from his coat, and crossed the room.

The pantry was located adjacent to the lounge because the Organization pretty much so ran on the main contents of the walk-in: coffee and snacks. There was no shortage of coffee tins, filters, sugar, creamer, chips, crackers, and candy. It was clear that health wasn't really a main concern for the Organization. Marluxia moved a can of coffee from the shelf and tossed a bag of potato chips to the side. He wrinkled his nose as a brown spot of sticky, syrupy goo revealed itself from under the chip bag. It was sliding down the shelf and running onto the floor.

That was the deciding factor. If the mug was in there, that's where it would stay. He exited the pantry and decided to give Twilight's view a once over. He made his way to the large room, most of which was occupied by stairs. Marluxia scanned the room and sighed. It seemed the place was empty...

Then of course, a black portal appeared in the middle of the staircase, and ruined the solitude. Zexion stepped out and looked around before resting his eyes on Marluxia. His mouth hung open for a moment, before the astonished expression was replaced with a sneer. He leaned back on the rail and folded his arms.

Marluxia pretended not to see him and walked past, glancing over the rail. Though he couldn't see his expression, he could feel something smug form on the shorter man's lips.

"Well, Marluxia...was there an early frost?"

Marluxia narrowed his eyes. "Shut up, or I'll push you over that rail."

Zexion laughed at this, and followed him up the stairs. "I leave you alone for an hour, and this is what you do to yourself? It looks like an attic sneezed on you."

"...Something like that. Weren't you supposed to help Demyx?"

Zexion stopped mid laugh and raised a brow."...Who?"

"Never mind." He reached the top of the stairs and sighed and looked around the platform, the corners, and around the expanse below. This place, for the most part was light grey, so finding a white mug would only be a little bit impossible.

Zexion looked over the banister as well. "Are we looking for something?"

"Xemnas' coffee mug." Marluxia muttered, as he started to descend the stairs.

Zexion tipped a brow in bewilderment. "A...coffee...mug? As in the ceramic kind with a handle? Are you sure that isn't some code for something a little more...significant?"

Marluxia clenched his jaw. "No. I mean an actual mug. Xemnas lost his stupid cup, and I have to look for it. After I do, I'm going to break it."

"...You realize this is absurdly humorous don't you? A mug? And I'm to believe that's the reason for your new found... personal decor?"

"Zexion, I'm sure you'd fit quite nicely in the air duct where I found all this lovely dust."

"I'm fine, thank you. But you know," He rolled back on his heels. "I'd just buy a new one."

Marluxia sighed at the suggestion. "Don't be stupid. He'd notice a new mug."

Zexion shrugged. "I doubt it, and even if he did, who cares? It's a mug. If it's been missing this long, I doubt he'll remember every detail about it. If you want, we can give it that 'used' look, and leave it soaking in a pot of black coffee for a few hours, heh heh. I do what I can."

Marluxia snorted. "That's uncharacteristically nice of you. I'd almost go as far to say kind. Careful there, Zexion. This might be the beginning stage of decency." He started down the

steps.

"Oh, Never." He said, following. "It's just embarrassing for me to see you walking around, looking like a sheep dog. Besides, I'm quite sure he doesn't want it back all that badly. It's just to see you all hot and bothered behind it." Zexion chuckled again.

Marluxia sighed. "This is probably so. I suppose you know where I can find a mug?"

"I saw some puny little shops in Radiant Garden. Maybe you can find one there. If not, well, I can't figure everything out for you." He opened a portal.

Marluxia shoved past him and entered the portal, and Zexion followed behind. If nothing else, it was a nice vacation from the monochromous Organization hall.

When they reached the other side of the portal, the pink-orange sky came into view. It was quiet, and no one seemed to be walking the streets. They seemed to be in the town square. Indeed, there were a few shops selling sundries.

Zexion looked rather disgusted. "See? This is what these people call shops. If they can't even make a decent town square, I can't imagine what atrocity the rest of the town will look like." He frowned. "I hate this place."

Marluxia agreed. "While it's nothing short of pathetic, we might as well get this over with." He approached one of the shops. The woman in the window greeted him cheerfully, but her face twisted up a bit upon seeing the cloud of dust Marluxia brought in his wake. He sent her an icy glare, but the effect was softened a bit, as Zexion thought her expression was hilarious.

"...and two forty nine is your change."

Marluxia snatched the bag from her, and glared at it's contents. "This had better work." He narrowed his eyes at Zexion.

He wiped a tear away with his fingers. "I'm not responsible for any mishap at this point. Can we go now? This boring little villa is draining away my energy."

"Are you sure you don't want to find Demyx? I know you left him here. The poor guy can't possibly get home on his own..."

The two burst into laughter at the idea of a very disgruntled Demyx trying in vain to create a portal big enough to squeeze into and get home.

"Nah. I say, he needs to learn. He'll figure it out if he becomes desperate enough."

"Forget what I said before about decency." Marluxia said, and opened a black portal, stepping into it.

They returned into the great hall of Crooked Ascension. Zexion yawned, leaning against the wall. "Well, not that this isn't entertaining...it's just that...it's not. I think I'll leave you to the rest."

"Off to reek havoc on the rest of the organization?"

"That's right. Oh, and do tell me how the whole mug thing works out. Really, I'm curious." He started down the hall way. "But do me a favor and change before you give that back to Xemnas."

Marluxia pulled another few cobwebs from his dusty mop and looked at the sack in his hands. Perhaps a shower and a change of clothes was in order. If anything it would lead Xemnas to believe he'd spent even longer looking for it. That decided, he made his way down the long hallway to the lower level of the World That Never Was.

No one was around. Marluxia had to admit, he was having quite a bit of luck avoiding the rest of the members in his dusty state, Zexion aside. He came to the base of the stairs and to the living quarters. All the rooms were arranged in order, along the hall, with six on one side, and six on the other. A black roman numeral above each door was stationed for identification. Being number eleven, it was a long walk to his room.

The rooms were simple. Not small, but then again not too overly extravagant either. A bed, a bathroom and of course, an intercom to summon the members at Xemnas' will. The walls shared the same white as the rest of the castle, but a few chose to paint their rooms and make them look more homey. He passed Xigbar's room. The door was open (as it rarely was closed), and Marluxia was able to see the bright red color, along with various targets painted on the walls. An obvious decor for the sniper.

Axel's room bared pictures of Roxas, enough even to resemble a gallery. Every morning, he'd hear the red-head bound across the hallway to the opposite end, where Roxas' room was, to wake him for the morning meeting. He wasn't quiet about it either. He'd usually start his Roxas wake up routine before he even came to his room, calling his name loudly.

Everyone in the hall was forced to endure Axel's wake up call.

Marluxia passed Axel's room, Xaldin's, Demyx, Luxord and Lexaeus' room before finally coming to his own. He opened the door and nearly collapsed on the bed. This stupid mug search had worn him out. He went to the bathroom and examined himself in the mirror. Since he hadn't actually seen himself, his appearance came as a bit of a shock. Dust clung to his face and hair, and covered his once black coat, turning it a soft powdery gray. The cobwebs hung from his hair and shoulders like dirty laundry and splotches of melted candy stuck to his cheeks.

Marluxia put the bagged ceramic on the counter and tried to ignore it. He'd deal with it after a long and needed shower. He turned on the hot water. At least he could get the dust and webs from his hair, however, he feared, his coat couldn't be saved. He deposited the grimy cloak into the trash can with a sigh, and stepped in through the glass door.

Xemnas was going to pay for this. He washed the dust and chocolate from his face. As soon as he took over the organization, Xemnas would be forced to look for all his misplaced mugs and zip up all his nobodies' hoods, and empty all the trash cans in the castle for as long as he wanted. As the thoughts crossed his mind, he became a bit more excited about the idea.

He squirted a good amount of shampoo in his hair and scrubbed. He'd need a bit of information on things of course, and all of that could be found in Xemnas' office. Of course, if the man wasn't delivering one of his greatly extensive speeches, he was holed up in his office, just leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on desk; letting the day pass without a care.

He scrubbed the soap deeper into his scalp. To be honest, he really wasn't making very much headway in his plans to take over the organization. With Xemnas keeping him on all these little errands. He hadn't been able to find the time to actually start any plotting. But things were going to change. Perhaps a bit of cheating the assignment was in order.

He finished ridding himself of the dirt and dust, and turned off the shower. He dried, and put on a clean cloak. As he zipped up his cloak, he yawned. There was still that stupid mug to return, but that would have to wait. Right now, sleep was calling him, and that's all he wanted to do. He entered the main part of his room and lay back on his bed for a much needed nap.


Okay, that's it for chapter four. Please review!