For somebody that was well known for his incommodious talent that greatly succeeded those mild pranksters in the organization, the fiery redhead included (which he was not too happy about), one would think the essence of boredom had never remotely revealed its identity in the presence of number II. With the exception of rainy days and numerous run of the mill missions (or lack thereof in most cases), Xigbar managed to always find a way to add some sort of tinge or spice to his days to keep himself occupied and out of the member's personal business.

But low and behold in this shocking reality, Xigbar was sitting; no, slouching on the white leather couch in the common area with gun propped up against his shoulder, looking for that fly that seemed to have an addiction of buzzing past his ear when he least expected it. His one golden eye searched endlessly through every corner of the room and every tile on the ceiling, occasionally coming to rest on the white flower vase sitting silently in the middle of the glass table (which the dusks had taken upon themselves to shine for the umpteenth time which mildly caught his attention, and then lost it again).

His mind suddenly wandered to the to-do list he left balancing on the edge of his seat back at the dinning hall.

That would make a pretty good target board…

So would Demyx…or Zexion…or both.

Zexion…

"Wonder where the little dude is." Xigbar yawned before scratching the back of his neck with gold eye darting from left to right. He planted his elbow on the cushion his rear was currently glued to and propped himself up so he could peer over the top of the couch. "Now that I think about that, Lex has been gone a while, too."

Something was poking at the back of his brain, but he couldn't really put his finger on it.

"Frankenstein'll probably kno-

He stopped himself.

Vexen was gone as well, longer than he usually was.

Xigbar stroked the underside of his chin and dismissed his guns with a wave of his hand.

"Right. Whole dang trio up and disappeared a few days ago…"

Without even meaning too, Xigbar stared blankly at the tall, golden doors at the other end of the room as his mind wandered from different possibilities. It wasn't abnormal for Vexen to disappear without a word for several hours, neither was it for Zexion for he couldn't stand the brightness upstairs. Lexaeus was, well…Lexaeus. He came and went as he pleased and nobody every questioned it unless they wanted a five hundred pound tomahawk snapping them in half. Heck he was even scarier than Saïx at times…

"Maybe Frankenstein blew something up…nah, I would've heard it."

Feeling his own laziness overcome him, Xigbar looked up at the ceiling, sighed, and teleported directly in front of the door. Heaven forbid he even gather enough strength to peel himself off the couch and actually walk to his destination.

Walking was for losers…

"Guess there's only one way to find out."

Slipping his hand out of his pocket, Xigbar reached for the door handle and pressed that side of his body up against the door due to sheer laziness of pushing it open with just his arm.

Then somebody opened the doors, and Xigbar stumbled out.

"What the-

"…Xigbar." Marluxia greeted with a fake polite tone displeased to see the freeshooter practically running into him after unexpectedly leaning into an opening door. He didn't smile; he only wore a solid cold frown as he normally did while greeting him.

Oh right, Marluxia's been acting weird too…

"How's it going, Mar?" Xigbar asked casually, slipping his hands into his pockets as if nothing happened.

"What are you doing in Castle Oblivion?" Marluxia demanded coldly, completely ignoring Xigbar's first question.

Xigbar ignored this too and offered the graceful assassin a cocky, toothy grin.

"Gee, I really have no idea. How about you, what are you doing here?"

"I was assigned here…"

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Ah."

Slightly aggravated and feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, Marluxia motioned for Xigbar to step aside, which he did,

(he was horribly tempted to stick his foot out but didn't) and glided past his trigger-happy colleague, looking at anything but him. His cold and expressionless face was locked on the book balancing just on the edge of the glass table sitting in the middle of the room.

Smirking at the back of the mauve-haired man and his latest attempt at the silent treatment, Xigbar prepared to turn on his heel and head out the opposite way when something about Marluxia caught his eye…It was very distinct at first, hardly worth noticing when several yards away, but it did indeed make him stop dead in his tracks and steal a glance over his shoulder as he walked past him.

Marluxia was limping.

And not only that, but there was also a dark bruise perched on his collarbone which was poorly concealed by the hood hanging limply across his shoulders.

First, Vexen disappears.

Then Zexion stops showing up in meetings and starts missing several meals.

Afterwards, Lexaeus vanishes.

And now Marluxia shows up with a distinguishable limp and a bruise?

Something was definitely up, and Xigbar was going to find out what.

--

"How are you feeling?" Zexion murmured as he carefully inspected the bandages tightly wrapped around the skinny frame of Vexen's chest.

Rem twirled a piece of black, curly hair in between her fingers as her grey and motionless eyes stared a hole in the wall in front of her. (Zexion was careful to avoid that wall due to the awkwardness of the absentminded girl staring at him without even knowing it).

"No better." Vexen answered honestly a quiet sigh. "But I can't afford to miss a fifth meeting with the Superior, I believe he is growing suspicious…it might be possible that Marluxia-

"Marluxia will remain silent." Lexaeus suddenly growled from across the room, glaring daggers at the door while picturing Marluxia's form to be standing there. "I made sure of it."

Rem slowed the twirling motion of her index finger and parted her lips as if hesitating to ask a meaningless question. Her eyes remained focused on the reflective wall before her; completely oblivious that Zexion was shooting her a blank stare from that very spot after noticing that she was looking at him without acknowledging it. She snapped her mouth shut and let out a hardly audible sigh as she dipped her head in silence.

She curled and uncurled her toes, occasionally brushing them up against the hard marble surface of the floor enjoying the feeling of solid ground beneath her. Rem only hoped that this Vexen character wouldn't strap her to that table again. To be completely honest with herself, she'd rather be frozen to it.

"I've been meaning to tell you this sooner, but certain matters wouldn't allow it…" Zexion started as he reached into his pocket and felt around for something.

"Here." He sighed, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Vexen's good hand.

At first, Vexen mistook the crumpled piece of paper for a to-do list that Zexion had stored in his pocket for unknown reasons. But after unfolding it, (which took about two minutes due to him only having one useful hand) he immediately recognized the handwriting to belong to Saïx. (At first he assumed it had been a note from Xemnas seeing as he received the majority of his requests on paper, but it was the diviner's way of crossing his T's that gave him away. Both their handwritings were practically similar; it was almost scary).

Mission No. 18

Organization Rank: IV

Location: Land of the Dragons

Primary Objective: Find and eliminate a level 5 heartless located in the mountains. It has the power to manifest itself from snow and ice. Insubordination is not an option.

Deadline: II

Accomplice(s): Solo mission

"Saïx trusted me to deliver that to you on time." Zexion began as he shuffled across the room to retrieve a book that Lexaeus had uncaringly knocked off the table. "If you must know, it was given to me yesterday."

Vexen frowned and looked over the note several times. His attention was drawn to the deadline that Saïx had written out, the Roman numeral II.

Two days…

"Zexion?"

"Yes?"

The sheets were thrown off Vexen's body and he carelessly swung his legs over the edge and planted them firmly on the floor. His long, stringy hair fell over his shoulders and flew into face as he grinned widely and locked eyes with the cloaked schemer.

"Do you know what this means?" He asked quizzically, challenging his shorter colleague.

Zexion cocked his eyebrow and brushed the long, chunk of hair away from his eyes, only for it to swing back in and tickle the bridge of his nose. There was a long pause between him and the academic, hesitating to answer his question deciphering if it were a trick one or not.

He shook his head. "…No, I do not."

Vexen grinned even wider than before and looked as if he wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him back and forth. (Of course he wouldn't have aloud that even if he were in perfect condition). But what Vexen did do was push himself off the mattress and grab hold of the desk to keep from falling over.

Rem lifted her head slightly and pursed her lips together.

"This, Zexion, means a perfect opportunity to clear any suspicions of any sorts of injuries I have obtained! I could not have asked for anything less!"

It was then that Zexion began to question if Lexaeus managed to injure more than just his ribcage and legs. His friend was reacting rather…strange to receiving a mission on such short notice. He knew Vexen disliked nothing more than having to retreat from his lab to accomplish a useless mission that didn't even remotely pique his curiosity in any shape or form.

He didn't think Lexaeus hit him over the head…but it was possible.

"Vexen," Zexion cooed, motioning for the academic to crawl back into his bed. "I believe you are delirious…Perhaps you should rest a bit before celebrating."

If Vexen was offended by this request, he didn't show it. Though he didn't deny that maybe he was seeing things more than usual…-but that didn't matter. He felt perfectly fine! This mission was just the kind of distraction he needed!

"Listen closely, Zexion." Vexen eagerly began, perching himself on the edge of his bed. "I believe there may be a way to reveal my injuries without arousing any suspicions. I admit this plan isn't well thought out by an ingenious mind, however it will have to do."

Zexion held back a snort at the irony. He could tell by the look on his face, Vexen was beginning to show signs of being desperate.

But he listened with full respect, interested at how he planned to get out of this mess without raising a few eyebrows…or a pointed elf ear for that matter.

"I will report to Xemnas this afternoon and act as if I normally would to receiving a mission as this. However, I will have my specimen accompany me as I go. I will say she is temporarily…insane due to a drug I had injected her with a few hours ago. Obviously she would be too dangerous to leave unattended, and I wouldn't want to miss a second of the countless symptoms she may obtain in the process? So I will simply have to bring her along on the mission."

Rem perked her head after hearing one of her many nicknames being used.

"However, while fighting this creature in the mountains, she will simply get in the way and I will get horribly injured as a result."

He emphasized injured to refer to the damaged ribcage and the inability to walk in a straight line without falling over. His plan made sense nonetheless, however there were countless holes in his story that Zexion could've easily pointed out. But it was highly unlikely that the Superior would ask for a detailed description of just how his specimen managed to interfere with the fight, or just how he was able to get himself injured by an element he was supposedly highly experienced with.

Saïx might…but that was unlikely as well.

"That's…uncharacteristically desperate of you, Vexen." He sighed with a wave of his hand. "But just how do you think you are going to appear perfectly unharmed when you report to the Superior?"

Vexen paused for a moment, staring at the younger man as if waiting for the answer to suddenly appear out thin air.

Zexion returned the stare with an equal blank look.

"…I suppose I will have to ignore this pain and assume that I can withstand only a few minutes with the Superior."

"And if Saïx is there in the room with you?" Zexion suddenly assumed, already aware that the diviner could easily spot a lie a mile away. Not to mention it would only take him seconds to notice any sort of limp or injury as Vexen approached his office.

But it was Vexen's answer that nearly caused the cloaked schemer, whom always expected the unexpected, to double take at his response.

"I am willing to take that risk…there is nothing more I can do…"

Now it was Zexion who was beginning to question his own sanity. He had just heard this from a man he had known for practically half his life, who was dedicated to his research and experiments beyond anybody in the entire world. Vexen never relied on pure chance, regardless of the situation. He only took such measures when his plan was tested multiple times, experimented on, and later on, confirmed bullet proof.

"Girl." Vexen suddenly spoke, snapping the cloaked schemer out of his thoughts. "How skilled would you say you are at acting?"

"I don't know…" She answered honestly, her response coming out more as a question than an answer.

"…I need you to act disoriented for a certain amount of time-

"No!" She interrupted suddenly, unaware that her voice was raised twice as high than intended. (And being in a closed off room only made it that much louder).

Zexion absentmindedly looked over his shoulder to spy on the vase with a single white rose, expecting it to suddenly crack and explode like a wine glass would to an opera singer.

But much to his surprise, it remained intact.

Vexen frowned and pressed his fingers against his temples for the third time. Sound seemed to be the only thing feeding his headache at this point…and there was plenty of it.

"If it is your intention to catch the attention of somebody nearby, don't waste your time. This room is soundproof."

Rem brought her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs close, burying her face in her sickly pale skin.

She knew all along, although the thought disgusted her beyond all reason, that if she were to escape from this unfamiliar place, she would somehow have to earn this Vexen character's trust. Although this idea hadn't struck her until her latest attempt at freedom, she knew it was the only way to somehow find a way back to Radiant Garden was to work as hard as she could to gain this man's trust. At first, Rem considered socializing with him so she could understand what kind of person he was, or to at least get him to say something other than, 'Girl!' or, 'Bothersome wench!' (She took a mental note saying to hit him over the head with something the moment she got free). Of course she could never find the perfect moment to speak with him, seeing as he had the dreadful habit of knocking her unconscious with some sort of injection, and carrying her off to who-knows-where. In the sad reality, the only words she was barely able to communicate with him were, 'My name is Rem.'

And what progress that was…

But wait, maybe now was a good opportunity!

Vexen had just asked her to do him a favor…but it was a simple one and it was near impossible to turn that into a conversation.

…Or was it?

"I-I won't do it unless…unless I know where I'm going." She finished just in time, building off the 'no' she had foolishly shouted out earlier, nearly snapping her plan in two.

Still rubbing his temples as his headache finally began to subside, Vexen turned and stared at his specimen with his faded green eyes, searching for any sort of trickery or deception in her motionless face.

"…It's a section of that world that is coated with snow and ice. You will need to know nothing more than that." Was his only response to her question. He did seem to hesitate at first, but it was and undeniable fact that she wouldn't have budged from that spot if he said nothing.

Cursed girl…

--

In the enveloping silence that calmly soothed the forever dark and dusty basement floor, others often wondered just how the three original apprentices managed to make a living in such an uninhabitable environment. But it also served its purpose as a barrier of some sort to keep whatever Vexen was growing down there safely kept away from the rest of the organization. (The other two weren't as lucky). But as it went on as a rumor and a fact that had been proven multiple times, the room where Vexen occasionally slept and preformed his most vulgar experiments on unwilling specimens was utterly soundproof from the outside.

It was often suspected that the academic may be lying at his expense as so he could keep the peace within his laboratory in order; and many have tried to catch even the tiniest shard of sound protruding from the room. It goes without saying that every attempt failed. But that only went for those whom whispered and spoke in their little groups as they huddled close to that very door, expecting to catch the muffled screams of Vexen's live experiments.

But in the dominant silence that coated the lowest floor, a tall figure hovered close to the door, going completely undetected by any lesser nobodies that had been stationed there for security purposes.

Xigbar, with his ear planted firmly against the metallic door, widened the grin that had earlier worked its way onto his severely scarred face. But that too, was consumed by the darkest shadows that lie beneath the enigmatic castle of the World That Never Was…

--

It wasn't abnormal for the chilly academic to be declared absent from the majority of the gatherings the Superior had often scheduled; and sometimes taking it upon himself to confirm him absent even when he hadn't yet entered the room. Not that he didn't trust Vexen; he was originally one of his most loyal disciples back when they were somebodies so he found no reason to suspect any abnormal behavior from such a dedicated follower (after all, he was an abnormal man…). However, in very few rare cases, Vexen was only seen emerging from his lair when he summoned by a superior to complete a simple task, or if something highly flammable exploded and was sending out radiation waves that coated the entire basement floor. (Axel was sure to keep away from the scientist for as long as possible to avoid having acid splashed in his face). Xemnas confirmed in his mind, that the scientist was undoubtedly one of his most trusted followers. And that is the very reason why he said nothing when Vexen, for the second time, stood before his superior wearing a rather sour look on his face with his specimen roughly apprehended in his right hand.

'He seems to be buying it,' Vexen thought with a hint of worry in his voice. 'Perhaps I may succeed after all.'

"…And you request that you have her accompany you due to scientific purposes, correct?" Xemnas assumed, lacing his fingers together.

Vexen nodded. "Yes sir," And held out his hand. "I believe Saïx entrusted Zexion to deliver this to me yesterday."

He handed him the slip of paper and continued on with his explanation. "However time must've gotten away from me and I neglected to observe the deadline. You see that my specimen has become…disoriented after I injected her with a non-lethal dose of an experimental substance. It is only temporary, but I cannot afford to miss a second of my resear-AUGH!

Feeling his head jerk back at an awkward angle after Rem purposely lashed her arm out and snatched a chunk of his hair, he couldn't suppress a realistic yell. He predicted during he and the Superior's conversation that she would randomly begin groping for his hair as an attempt at looking slightly disoriented, but he didn't imagine she would do it that quickly.

Vexen worked his fingers into his now tangled blonde hair, and wretched the girl's hand free from the countless little knots.

"As you can see," He began through gritted teeth as he worked on the next hand. "She has spawned a rather grotesque way of pulling hair. I left her alone for about five minutes as -OW!...As I spoke with Zexion about other matters. In that time she began pulling out her own hair and became absorbed with clawing at her face as if attempting to pry her eyeballs from her sockets…"

Rem eventually surrendered her unbreakable grip on her captor's hair, and began groping the air with the same persistency as she had before.

Xemnas didn't seem to be the slightest bit rattled by his explanation. His eyes only narrowed as Vexen went on explaining why his specimen shouldn't be left alone. But in the midst of their brief conversation and Vexen's explanation, two solid knocks came to the other side of the door, which sounded off in a perfect rhythm that only the academic could fully recognize. He stopped short, saying only half a word before looking over his shoulder at the glossy, white double doors.

Saïx.

Feeling his sentence get caught in his throat, Vexen wracked his brain for a quicker conclusion so he could be dismissed from Xemnas' office, and hopefully avoid any confrontations with the blue haired berserker.

"Enter." Xemnas called, separating his hands and gesturing for Vexen to move aside.

As predicted by the scientist, one of the reflective doors was silently pushed open to reveal none other than the luna diviner standing threateningly at it's entrance, glancing from the Superior to Vexen with a cold and unreadable look on his face. But that look suddenly vanished as he stepped fully into the room, and nudged the door closed without turning around.

"Would I be interrupting a meeting, sir?" He questioned in a semi-polite tone, ignoring the look Vexen was offering him. "I can report back when you are finished."

"Nothing of the sort." Xemnas confirmed. "Vexen and I are only going over his mission standards. Is there something you would like to say?"

Rem paused and opened her ears, carefully listening to the new voice that had just entered the room. It was plainly obvious that Vexen wasn't very fond of him, due to the fact that he was squeezing her wrist much harder than usual.

"I've gathered the data from sector K9 located in Radiant Garden…" He began, gliding past Vexen and setting a number of papers on the Superior's desk. "Sectors 1-5 are cleared of any heartless of the lowest type. Sectors 6-11, however, hold the majority of the town's heartless."

"I see…" Xemnas mused, skimming through the sheets of paper with his daunting orange eyes. "And sector K12?"

"Vacant." Saïx confirmed.

Vexen frowned and looked past Saïx, hand raised slightly.

"Superior, if I may take my leave now-

"Are there any reports taken from your past missions that you have failed to give?" Xemnas tested, still skimming Saïx's reports with a hand raised as if waiting for the berserker to put something in it.

"…Yes, only one." Saïx frowned, pulling a piece of paper from thin air quicker than anyone could see, and placing it in Xemnas' open hand.

As he finished reading through the reports that the luna diviner had so kindly provided him with, his eyes wandered to the final record in his right hand. The handwriting was smudged slightly with what looked like traces of water, and the paper was crumpled along the edges and torn at the top.

"Saïx," Xemnas started, "Where exactly did you record this report…?"

"…The Land of the Dragons, sir." He answered hesitantly, noticing that Xemnas seemed displeased with the condition of the single sheet of notes. "Is there a problem?"

"When where you last stationed there?" He questioned, lacing his fingers together for the second time.

Saïx raised his eyebrows.

"Yesterday, sir." He answered respectfully. "Is there a problem?"

The tiny piece of paper sitting on the edge of his desk that was handed to him prior to Saïx entering the room read clearly the words, 'Land of the Dragons' as the destination for the mission. Xemnas uncurled his fingers, paused, and finally reached for the slip with his thumb and index finger.

Mission No. 18

Organization Rank: IV

Location: Land of the Dragons

Primary Objective: Find and eliminate a level 5 heartless located in the mountains. It has the power to manifest itself from snow and ice. Insubordination is not an option.

Deadline: II

Accomplice(s): Solo mission

"Sir-

"There is a heartless in that region that is in need of extermination, correct?" Xemnas started, rubbing his thumb at the corner of the paper. "Level 5?"

"There is," Saïx nodded. "However I believe I assigned Vexen that task the day before…"

Looking over his shoulder with his intimidating, golden eyes, Saïx's glare went unnoticed by the superior as the diviner and academic gained identical stares.

"I see…" He murmured, looking over the piece of paper with curious eyes. "And do you have any scheduled assignments for the remainder of the day?"

Again, Saïx raised his eyebrows and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his neck, flipping his hair over his shoulder in one fluent motion.

"No, sir..."

Xemnas raised his head for the first time in ten minutes and looked past his loyal subordinate to the aggravated scientist behind him. Vexen didn't seem to notice as he stared holes into the closest wall to his specimen, he was looking rather impatient…

"Vexen." The tan-skinned man called, locking his sharp, orange eyes with the scientist's.

Vexen blinked unaware at first, then suddenly snapped his head back as quickly as Larxene would've slapped him. Inevitably pinching a nerve in the process, the academic stared at his superior with questioning (and painful) eyes.

"Your mission is no longer solo. I am assigning Saïx as your partner to bring the task down to a minimal…"

--

How long has it been since I've updated? A month, two months, many months? D: I apologize for making this chapter late, I blame writer's block. I can't even tell you how long I spent just staring at the computer screen without writing anything out; heck I even had this chapter written out several times, but erased it because I didn't like it :p

Sorry!

P.S. Did you know that Xion's theme makes it easier to write out Rem's portions of the story…?