Chapter 6: The Key of Light

Roxas stood upon a balcony, staring at the dark expanse of the World That Never Was. The city and its shadowy buildings looked almost fake, as if it truly never was. He'd been at the castle for a few days. Or maybe it had been weeks. Time didn't really seem to be of consequence when one was not truly alive.

That's what they'd told him, that he wasn't really alive. Or, at least, that's what he'd deciphered from the Superior telling him that he hadn't a heart. It was a strange phenomenon, to be sure, yet it made sense when he felt so incredibly empty. And yet, even with the knowledge and feeling of emptiness within his body, there was still something tugging at his soul within that cried for him to believe he was something more than a Nobody.

"Enjoying the view, kid?" A voice spoke from behind the still figure. Azure eyes caught sight of a tall, lean man with absurdly spiky flame-red hair dressed in the standard Organization uniform. He had a laid-back sort of composure in the way he stood leaning casually against the archway, and a taunting expression that seemed to be glued to his face, yet the gleam in his almost glowing green eyes told Roxas that this man was lethal.

Roxas inclined his head ever so slightly before turning away, a gesture the taller man took to be a yes despite the movement's minuteness. He walked over to the edge and looked in the general direction his company seemed to be staring at. Whatever it was he was observing sure as hell didn't look any different than anything else there was to see. Shrugging, he regarded the blond haired kid and decided to get down to business.

"Name's Axel. A-X-E-L," he said by way of his typical introduction, "Got it memorized?"

The boy turned his head and regarded Axel with eyes that inwardly laughed. "Roxas. R-O-X-A-S," he replied, his tone somewhat mocking, "Got it memorized?"

Axel grinned despite the boy's mockery. He had a sense of humor and it was about time someone made him laugh around here besides Larxene, and she made him laugh in other ways than pure companionable humor. But this was not time for idle chat. There was business to attend to, hearts to steal and a certain Keyblade wielder's powers to be evaluated.

"The Superior ordered that I summon you for your first assignment, so here I am," the pyromancer informed Roxas.

"What kind of assignment?" he asked suspiciously. During his introduction to the Castle, Roxas had not been informed at the exact kind of operations this Organization did, but he saw hearts floating to the great heart-shaped moon every now and then, and he overheard other members speaking of some kingdom of sorts. The malicious tone in which they spoke when it came to those hearts was intriguing, to say the least, and Roxas was curious, and somewhat apprenhensive, although he wouldn't admit it.

He received no answer from the older Organization member except an odd smirk and a wave of his gloved hand as he disappeared through a portal of darkness, indicating for the boy to follow. Roxas wondered at the familiar doorway – the very same kind of portal that brought him to this castle – as he stepped through it. The inside was a maze of shadowy corridors and he was sure he'd have lost his way had he not caught sight of a speck of red in the distance. He ran along the path, anticipating a long journey like his previous one, but this one was considerably shorter for he stumbled into a bright room atop a ridiculously high pedestal. Looking down to the white void below, he was filled with a sense of vertigo, but he ripped his eyes away from the fall and tried to regulate his breathing.

A harsh feminine laugh resounded to his right and Roxas saw it belonged to a blond woman with a pretty face, but acid eyes and a venom smirk. She sat upon a pedestal next to Axel's, regarding him with an unreadable, yet malevolent, expression. A vast array of characters surrounded him, all their physical attributes out of the ordinary and all with an air of danger to them. The members of Organization XIII. None looked as dangerous though as the man who sat atop the highest pedestal of the whole room. The Superior.

"I believe it's time for you to show us your abilities, Roxas," the Superior's deep voice resonated through the chamber.

At first, Roxas was confused. He opened his mouth to ask what that meant when he felt a tug on his mind. He snapped his eyes shut and fell.

Roxas didn't know how he came to be in this grand, barren hall. He had fallen from his pedestal in that strange meeting room, a sadistic laugh following him down into the white abyss. Somehow he came to stand in another room entirely just as he was sure he was about to die. He studied the marble floors and plain walls and noticed something peculiar happening to their surfaces. They rippled and moved like watery silver until tendrils of white shadows took form. They all took on shapes like quicksilver and they stood as if dancing in place, their limbs always swaying from side to side. An insignia was burned into their flesh (if you could even call it that), and Roxas noticed it to be the very same one representing the Castle That Never Was.

The shapes advanced and Roxas became scared. Their zip-up mouths lolled about, their jaws hanging without purpose as their swaying pointy members flashed death. Suddenly, an intense surge of pain rushed to Roxas' head and he fell to his knees screaming. There were memories, but he couldn't be sure if they were his or another's. Flashes of light. Dying darkness. His hands itched to slice at the shadows. When he opened his eyes, he saw the two key-shaped blades gripped tightly in his hands. They were perfect and familiar, the purity of the white and the obsidian black. The feeling of their hilts against his palms felt so incredibly natural. He knew the power he possessed and he smiled with malice.

"Nobodies," something told him. "Just like you."

No, he thought, lesser than me.

They each fell with a few quick slashes of his blades. Such easy oponents. He had so much power and skill that he was almost disappointed that it had to be wasted on these weak underlings. The taste of battle was so rich that he hadn't realized he's finished every single last one of them until he spun around to discover solitude.

Roxas was suddenly very tired. His eyes refocused as if he'd been hypnotized and he wondered at the blades in his hands.

He collapsed.

The members of Organization XIII watched the spectacle with approval and they were beyond satisfied with their newest member's performance. They saw his keyblades cut through those lesser Nobodies as if they were mere shadows that never existed. It was amazing, beyond what any of them had ever accomplished during their first assessment.

"I think you've been beat, Axel," a venomous smirking voice whispered in the pyromancer's ear as they gazed at the massacre before them.

"You never saw my first assessment, Larxene," Axel replied with a smirk equally as venomous, "But I saw yours, and I have to say, that dagger throwing was absolutely perfect."

"I hear your sarcasm, asshole," the Savage Nymph said, "Just know whose daggers pierce your pretty flesh."

Axel rubbed the material covering the place where his heart should have been, where the mockery of a heart embedded itself into his skin. Larxene noticed the movement and looked up at his thoughtful face and she could have sworn she felt a pang inside her as if she really possessed a heart. The two arrogant Nobodies were silent for the duration of the battle, both lost in their own thoughts of selfish schemes. They both knew the danger in the future plans that awaited them. They both knew the path they would take with the arrival of their key member.

What they didn't know was that the Key of Light would open up a door to another path entirely.

AN: Hello everyone who cares to read this little fic! All of my faithful readers, however small a number you are, have my undying love for sticking with this story.

As you can see, updates are a killer to come by these days and I apologize if this is somewhat disappointing in terms of length (and possibly – although I certainly hope not – quality), but school has made me a busy girl and it's hard to find time to write fanfiction amid the endless homework. I have a speech coming up, so I have to practice my public speaking a lot in this next week, but afterwards I truly hope I could get back on track with my beloved story. It's frustrating staring at my plans and not being able to continue it...

Anyway, I realize this is short and that there might be a lack of Larxel action, but I assure you that it is for good reason For now, I hope you've enoyed the latest installment, however brief it may be, and I ask that you be patient with me.

Thank you,

CT