Shippoman: WE'RE FINALLY POSTING AGAIN! Sorry about the suuuuppper long wait but we've finally got another chapter up and hopefully will be posting another in a much shorter period of time. Copper Moon is trying to step back into the writing game so keep your fingers crossed we'll be able to go to maybe once a month.
Chapter 7: Not So Happy Reunions
It was another day with another mission. Today, Roxas was on heart collecting duty with Demyx. "Way to go, Roxas," Demyx cheered from the sidelines as the keyblade wielder finished off a hoard of Heartless. "You really showed them who's boss."
Roxas wiped the sweat from his brow, letting his grip on his weapon relax. "Thanks." The heat was intense, even in the Coliseum and he'd been doing most of the work. "Hey, Demyx, do you know anything about switches?"
The sitar player's face went blank. "Huh? Whaddya mean?"
"Well, the other day Axel was talking about how girls have switches and you don't want to flip the wrong ones. I didn't really get it."
"Oh…" comprehension dawned on the older boy's face. "Yeah, Larxene had a ton of switches. I never knew when I was gonna trip one and have her blow up on me."
"So, what are switches for girls? How do they work?" Roxas asked.
"Uh..." Demxy wasn't really sure how to answer that question. He didn't really understand the concept enough to explain it, at least not to Roxas. "Maybe you should just ask Axel again. He can explain it better than me."
"Alright," Roxas sighed, looking disappointed. "So...is it time to RTC?"
"Not yet," Demyx said quickly. "If we get back too early, Saix won't believe that we finished. He never does with me. So, let's just explore a bit more before we go back."
The keyblade wielder wasn't so sure about this idea, but he supposed a little extra time couldn't hurt too much. "Okay."
"Great! So I'm gonna go do some recon and I'll meet back up with you at the portal." He gave a short wave before taking off.
Roxas sighed, wondering what he should do in the meantime. As he began wandering around, something caught his eye. A person dressed in a cloak just like him was wandering around the outer area of the Coliseum. He couldn't tell who it was though because they had their hood pulled up. A thought suddenly occurred to him: maybe it was the imposter.
He pulled his keyblade back out and held it tightly as he charged the supposed imposter. He expected the imposter to turn and fight back like they had with every other member. But just before he reached them he saw them lean heavily against a wall and sink to the ground resting an arm on their knee. He was confused by the imposter's movements and stopped to watch as they reached up and pulled their hood down.
"Ugh, this thing is so hard to breath in sometimes," he heard the person mutter running a hand through black hair.
He stared at the person's face for a few moments before he realized where he recognized them. The moment he did, he put his weapon away and rushed towards them. "Thorn!" he shouted running up to the female.
Her head snapped away from the wall it was resting against and she looked up at him. "R-Roxas?"
The blue eyed blonde stared down at her, hardly believing what he was seeing. "It really is you." He smiled happy to see she was alright. Even though they hadn't spent much time together, she was one of the few other than Axel who had treated him like a friend. "Where have you been all this time? I thought after Castle Oblivion you were… but you're here now. Why?"
Thorn stood up, making gestures with her hands for him to quiet down. "Hey, not so loud. I don't want anyone else knowing I'm here."
"I don't understand," he said. "Why didn't you ever come back? Axel said you had…"
"That's because I wanted everyone to think I was gone." Thorn rubbed her head, thinking about how upset Axel would get if he found out she'd been seen by anyone, Roxas included. "Look, Roxas, you can't tell anyone you saw me today. Not even Axel."
"But why not?"
"I don't belong in the Organization," she explained patiently. "I'm not a Nobody so I can't be with you guys. Not yet at least."
"I don't understand," Roxas mumbled with a frown. "Why can't I at least tell Axel? He thinks you're dead."
"It's because no one can know I'm alive," she tried to explain. "I'd be in a lot of trouble if the others found out. If Axel knew, he'd have to lie about it and end up getting into trouble as well. I'd rather you didn't know so you wouldn't have to worry about it, but we can't exactly change that now can we."
"Okay," Roxas finally agreed. "How did you get out of Castle Oblivion anyway?"
"Well...I managed to use my magic to sneak out of the castle and slipped aboard a gummiship riding it out of there," she answered. She hated lying to him, but she didn't want to explain that Axel had actually gotten her out of there himself. "I'm really glad to see you're doing so well though, and I really missed you." As she said this last part, she pulled him in for a small hug.
Thorn felt the boy stiffen in surprise and she glanced down at him. "You okay?"
"Y-yeah," he stuttered. "But… what are you doing?"
She laughed at that, having forgotten how naïve he was. "It's called a hug, silly." She released her grip, letting him back up a step. "You give them to people you care about. When someone's upset, a hug can make them feel better. Keep in mind though it depends on the person."
"Okay, I think I get it." Roxas looked up at her with the same innocent eyes he'd had the first day she'd met him. "Has Axel ever flipped your switch?"
Thorn looked at him in shock as her mouth slipped open the slightest bit. "W-what?"
"Your switch," Roxas repeated. "Did Axel ever flip it?"
"I-I'm not answering that," Thorn stuttered as she tried to regain her composure. "Where in the worlds did you even hear about that?"
"Axel told me," he answered with a large grin. "He said that all girls have switches and you have to be careful of which ones you flip."
"Of course he did," she muttered under her breath as she rubbed forehead. She'd have to beat some sense into him later. How could he have told something like that to the kid anyway? "Roxas, do me a favor. Forget you ever heard about girls' switches and never mention them again."
Roxas lowered his head. "I've been trying to figure out what he meant so I could help Xion."
Thorn lowered her hand to look at him. "Why? What's wrong?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure. She's been acting weird lately and she won't talk to me. I asked Axel what I should do and that's when he started talking about switches."
She released a soft sigh before placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "If Xion's upset and doesn't want to talk about it, then maybe it's best just to give her some space. Sometimes people need a break from everyone else, even their friends."
"So, all I can do is wait?" He wanted to do something more than that. He just didn't know what he should do.
"That might be your best bet at this point," she shrugged, then smiling she added, "but it never hurts to show you care. I think as long as she knows that, she'll come around."
He smiled at this looking up at her in a hopeful manner. "You really think so?"
"Yeah, I do," she told him. "Now you should probably get going. Whoever you came with will probably get worried if you stay away for too long."
"I wish you could come with me," he expressed sadly. "I think you could really help us out."
Thorn took a deep breath before looking him right in the eye. Then she leaned over slightly and placed a warm kiss on his forehead. "I do too, but right now I can't," she whispered. "Now I have to go. I'll miss you, Roxas. Just remember, no matter what don't lose yourself."
Roxas felt his face heat up for some weird reason and his insides also felt strange. He did feel oddly happy though, because somehow he knew that whatever that was, it was a really good thing. After saying good-bye to Thorn, he headed back to the portal to find Demyx waiting there for him.
"Wow, didn't think you'd be the last one here," Demyx commented. "Find something interesting?"
"Sort of," Roxas answered vaguely.
"Well, I'm beat. Let's head back so I can kick back and relax some." Demyx led the way through the portal and Roxas followed, pondering all he had learned that day.
When Roxas walked through the portal into the Gray Room he was happy to see that Axel was there waiting for him. "So, how'd it go?" he asked with his usual grin.
Instead of answering, the younger boy moved forward and wrapped his arms around the redhead's waist. "It was great," he murmured into the older Nobody's chest.
"Uh...what are you doing?" Axel asked holding his arms in the air in his surprise. He glanced around the room glad to see that Demyx was the only other person present. He glared at him for a moment but the water boy just shrugged signaling he had no idea what was going on.
Roxas looked up at him. "Am I doing it wrong?"
"I'm not sure if you know what you're doing to be honest," Axel said, scratching his head before easing himself out of the younger boy's grip. "Where'd you pick that up from?"
"I saw someone else do it," Roxas explained as vaguely as he could. "It's meant for people you care about, right?"
"Well, yeah but…" Axel folded his arms across his chest, wondering how to explain this one. "Guys don't usually do that with each other."
"Why not?" Just when he thought he understood something, it turned out it was actually more complicated than he first believed.
"I'm not really sure," the red head said honestly. "That's more of a girl thing… though, it's perfectly normal for a guy to hug a girl, and vice versa. Though that's usually a thing reserved for really special occasions."
"Like when they're feeling bad and you want to make them feel better?" he asked.
"Yeah, something like that," Axel answered. At the explanation he just heard he had to wonder even more, where did the kid learn about hugs? Well, he did go to Olympus Collesium so he reasoned that it was possible he saw the big hero and his girlfriend hug. Yeah, that would do it.
"Do you think it'd be okay if I gave one to Xion?" Roxas asked nervously. "Or would she get mad over it?"
Axel unfolded his arms and shrugged. "Well, it's not something I would do." There was really only one person he wanted that sort of contact with, and she wasn't here at the moment. "But who knows? From you, it might be okay."
Roxas nodded decisively. "Alright, I'll give it a try. Thanks, Axel!" He said before running off towards Xion's room.
The red head watched him leave, still as perplexed as ever. "Honestly, sometimes it's easy to forget he's a Nobody like me."
The weeks seemed to be dragging by as Saix strolled down the halls. He had noticed during that time, that Axel and his two friends seemed to be growing ever closer; something he couldn't grasp as one of them was a faceless puppet.
It didn't help that the redhead wasn't alerting him to the puppet's condition. His only clue that anything was amiss was its seeming desire to avoid the two as of late. He supposed it must have something to do with its encounter with the imposter reinforcing the idea that it couldn't be the heartseer.
Despite the problems the puppet seemed to be having, he couldn't allow it to laze about so he set up a mission for it. Maybe this time it wouldn't break.
Unfortunately the puppet wasn't where it was supposed to be so he was forced to go find it. He traveled around the castle looking in every area he could until he finally discovered it hanging out in Sunset Terrace. And it wasn't alone.
He paused at the entrance realizing the youngest Nobody was up to something and he wasn't about to let it go unseen.
"Hey, Xion, you feeling any better?" Roxas asked slowly.
She turned to look at him and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Well you've kind of been avoiding Axel and me a lot more lately," Roxas answered. He was fidgeting slightly, revealing how nervous he was.
"I'm sorry," she expressed turning away once more to look out over the terrace. "I've just had a lot on my mind. I wasn't trying to avoid you though."
"Alright," the young Nobody acknowledged as he scratched the back of his head. "Did you...want to talk about it? Axel says voicing something that's bugging you helps."
"I'd rather not," she replied hanging her head.
"Oh, okay then." Saix watched as Roxas nervously shuffled his feet before finally reaching forward and pulling the puppet in for a hug.
It froze at the action and for a moment neither spoke or moved.
Then Roxas finally murmured, "Well, don't forget that Axel and I are here whenever you need us." He pulled back and smiled reassuringly. "After all, that's what friends are for, right?"
The puppet nodded again seeming to accept the young Nobody's words. He then bid it goodbye before heading out for his own mission. Saix waited for a few minutes after the number XIII had left before entering the terrace himself.
Right away he drew the puppet's attention and got right to business as if he hadn't just seen the rare tender moment. "Xion, I have a mission for you," he spoke seriously. The thing nodded waiting for him to continue. "There is a large heartless that needs to be taken care of in Neverland." It nodded once more and turned to leave. "And, Xion, if you see the imposter don't hesitated to kill him," he added for good measure. "Maybe this time you won't break before you complete it."
There was no indication of if his words had any affect at all as it responded. "Yes, sir." Then it disappeared into the portal of darkness.
"We'll just see how long it lasts this time," he thought as he continued to the Gray Area. The scene of Roxas hugging Xion kept replaying in his mind and he couldn't for the life of him understand where it came from. Still, at the rate things were progressing, he worried they'd have another heartseer incident on their hands. Nothing he could say to himself was able to rid him of this illusion of fear either.
To rid himself of the uncomfortable sensations, he forced the thoughts out of his mind. There was still work to be done and he didn't have time to dwell on pointless things. With that he was able to return to his work.
The sun had just risen as Thorn stepped out of the cave and stretched. She looked around her at the forest that surrounded her small cave that had temporarily become her home. She'd been in that world for almost three weeks now without any sign of the heart piece. Not for lack of trying though.
The last few days she started to believe that maybe there was no heart piece to find and tried to leave, but the magical star wouldn't activate. She was stuck until she found it. Sighing heavily she stretched herself out before starting her next search at the south end of the island near an encampment of Indians.
One thing nice about this place was that it had plenty of food growing around. Thorn picked some fruit as well as some nuts, munching as she traveled around. She made sure to keep her hood up while wondering around at all times, and she tended to avoid the main paths. So far, she managed to keep out of sight from the locals. Magic was nifty for a lot of things, especially stealth.
She passed by the encampment and took a path which led to a cliff side. It was one of the highest points on the island and from it she could see just about everything there was to see. Unfortunately it didn't help make her job much easier. It was all about being at the right place at the right time. Thorn stood staring out at the expanse of ocean as she quietly munched on the remainders of her makeshift breakfast.
This journey wouldn't be so bad if she had some company. The sound of quick footsteps approaching immediately set her on guard and she turned around to see a small cloaked figure charging towards her with a key blade. Thorn quickly moved out of the way as a slash threatened to knock her over the side of the cliff. The small figure pivoted around to face her.
"You're him aren't you?" A female voice demanded fiercely. "The imposter!"
"Imposter?" she wondered in confusion. The voice of the attacker was different from any of the members she knew of and being attacked out of nowhere for wearing the cloak seemed like a bit much. "Who are you calling imposter?" she demanded back. Something didn't seem right about this person. She wasn't devoid of a heart, but what was there didn't seem normal for a person her size.
"You!" the attacker exclaimed running forward. "After what you've done I'll stop you!"
Thorn dodged each attack moving away from the edge of the cliff. She needed to stop the attack and get this person to tell her what was going on, or at the very least get the attack to stop and hope that word didn't get back to the Organization about her existence. "Now hang on, I haven't done anything," Thorn tried to reason. "So, why don't you put your keyblade away and we can talk."
"You can't fool me," the little one said. "I'll prove to you I'm no sham!" She rushed forward with a battle cry jumping into the air for a downward slash.
Thorn puffed out a sigh of frustration before taking the gloves off. The tattoos on her arms shot out from the sleeves of her cloak and tangled around the keyblade as well as her attacker, bringing them to a halt. The small figure struggled, and the more she did, the more the barbs dug into her cloak. "Stop struggling or you'll hurt yourself," Thorn said, not loosening her grip. "Now, calm down and tell me what it is you want. Why are you attacking me?"
The figure slowly stilled as she stared at Thorn. "Your voice… you're not him."
"Who?"
"But you're not with the Organization either," she accused. "You're probably working with him aren't you?"
"You're right, I'm not with the Organization," Thorn acknowledged. "But I don't have any reason to fight them either. Now, I'm going to put you down and then we'll both lower our hoods and talk this out."
The attacker paused for a few moments before nodding slowly. As if to emphasize her agreement, she put her keyblade away and Thorn slowly put her down and returned the vines to their original position. "Alright then, you go first," the attacker said suspiciously.
Thorn shrugged knowing that to the other, she was the one who looked suspicious. Then she slowly reached up and lowered her hood revealing her purple streaked black hair. The person stood very still and Thorn was sure they were inspecting her. "Alright, now it's your turn."
The person hesitated for a moment before finally reaching up and lowering their own hood. Thorn almost took a step back in shock at what she saw. The person before her may have had a female voice, but their look was nothing she'd ever seen before. The hair was a short spikey brown, but the face looked like someone had taken pieces of three different faces to make a new one. Who in the world was this?
"Are you… Xion?" Thorn asked.
The Nobody's eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know my name?"
"We've met before, several months back, when you first came into the Organization," Thorn said, deciding not to mention her involvement with Roxas or Axel. "You don't remember?"
Xion shook her head. "I don't remember the first couple weeks very clearly." She at least seemed to judge that Thorn wasn't a threat. "So are you a Nobody too then?"
It was Thorn's turn to shake her head. "No, I'm not. I was with them for a while but…" she trailed off.
"But what?"
"Let's just say we had a falling out and I left," she answered after a few moments of silence. "At the moment, they believe that I'm dead. I'd rather it stay that way."
"So, no one knows that you're here?" Xion asked in confusion.
"No they don't," Thorn answered easily. "If they did, our little falling out would put me in a lot of trouble."
"So then what are you doing here?" the young Nobody asked suspiciously.
"I'm not going to explain it," Thorn sighed rubbing her forehead. "Look, I've got nothing to do with the Organization anymore and have no desire to. So do me a favor and don't mention to anyone that you saw me."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Xion asked.
Before Thorn could formulate a decent answer, the sense of danger drew her attention away. "Look out!"
A black shadow with wings swooped down on the pair of them, its talon's stretched towards the small Nobody. Before it's could reach, Thorn fired off a blast off lightning, stunning the creature and dropping it to the ground. Xion nearly got crushed by it, but managed to roll away in time.
"You alright?" Thorn asked her.
"I think so…" the other said, pushing herself onto her feet.
The creature lurched and its wings spread out as it tried to take flight again. One of them caught Xion, knocking her towards the edge of the cliff where she slipped and fell. Thorn screamed the girl's name and ran to the cliff edge. She caught sight of the Nobody rolling helpless down the side of the cliff, quickly approaching the drop off of a fatal fifty plus foot fall.
Quickly she began to slide down the side of the cliff towards the falling girl as she gathered her magic about her, willing herself to go faster while trying to slow the other's decent. Just as the girl started going over the edge, Thorn drove the vines from inside her cloak into the ground to stop herself and held out her hand.
"Float!" Xion's decent stopped instantly and she slowly drifted over to Thorn who pulled the girl into her. "Hey, Xion, are you okay?" she asked holding onto her tightly to keep her from falling again.
"Y-yeah, I think so," she grumbled trying to move but finding it near impossible without slipping out of the mage's grip. "Why did you save me?"
"I had no reason not to," Thorn said simply with a soft smile. Plus, she was Axel and Roxas's friend. How could she not save her?
Xion still seemed perplexed by the mage's actions, but she smiled in return. Seconds later, she went limp in Thorn's arm. Thorn breathed, knowing she was in a particularly tight spot and also knowing that the flying heartless was still lingering about. At the moment, she and Xion were like worms on a fishhook.
She quickly looked to either side and saw that just to her left was a ledge that sloped down to the beach below. Making up her mind, she shifted her grip on the unconscious girl and slowly got to her feet, using the vines as an anchor. Then she slowly began moving back and forth across the face of the cliff working up her momentum until she finally released her hold on the side and leaped towards the ledge using her float spell to slow their descent until she landed hard on her feet dropping to her knees at the impact.
"Ugh...you owe me for this," Thorn muttered rolling onto her front and pushing herself back onto her feet. She glanced over at the girl still lying on the ground and shook her head. "So much for staying out of sight. That's the second one that's spotted me. It's probably only a matter of time before someone else sees me. Probably someone less likeable."
She got back onto her feet and Thorn caught sight of the heartless circling around, readying itself for another strike. "Go ahead," she muttered. She doubted the heartless could hear her let alone understand her. "I dare you."
As though sensing her readiness, it dove straight towards them. Thorn summoned her magic and just when it got within five feet of her she sent a Firaga spell. It exploded against the creature's chest causing it to vanish in a burst of shadow. The female mage exhaled, glad that the problem was over and done with and they were out of any immediate danger.
She knelt down over Xion to make sure she was okay. The Nobody had been banged up good by the tumble she'd taken, but she was alive. That was definitely something. Sensing movement behind her, Thorn whirled around, ready to hurl another spell. She almost did too when she saw another figure wearing a black cloak with his hood drawn up. The figure stood still, not moving to attack, nor defend themselves.
"Thorn?"
The mage paused at the sound of her name. The voice was familiar, but not one she'd heard from anyone in the Organization. Not only that but this person actually did have a heart.
"You…"
In answer, the person reached up and lowered their hood, revealing long silver hair. "I can't believe it." Thorn could almost see his eyes widen behind the blindfold. "You're alive."
She honestly couldn't believe it either. "Riku?"
Ever since his first encounter with the keyblade wielding Nobody, Riku had been keeping tabs on her. There was something about her that just wasn't right. When he had taken a peek under her hood, she looked exactly like Kairi. He wanted to know how this was possible, and more importantly, why.
When he located her in Neverland, he didn't expect anything unusual to happen thinking he'd only see her pull out her keyblade and fight off a few heartless before leaving. Though when he saw her run into another cloaked figure, he didn't think much of it expecting the person to be another member.
It really surprised him when the Kairi look-alike attacked the other and even more so when the other didn't materialize a weapon of some sort. Instead they simply dodged all the attacks before stopping "Kairi" in her tracks with what looked like vines. Although he couldn't hear what was being said, he could tell there was a conversation going on before the one being held was lowered and then both lowered their hoods.
The one looked just like Kairi, but the other... He had to shake his head a couple times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The other girl before him was indeed Thorn, the girl that had helped him out in Castle Oblivion and then vanished when Axel dragged her into the darkness. He'd honestly believed she'd never be seen again.
He of course had to approach her just to be sure it was true. She seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see her. "What the heck is going on?" She asked, relaxing from the fighting stance she had taken up when he first approached. "How did you end up here, and dressed like that?"
"I could ask you the same," Riku pointed out. "How did you escape?"
She planted a hand on her hip. "I asked first." The conversation was brought to a brief halt when several dusks suddenly showed up and began to head their way. "Geez, not these guys," Thorn muttered, quickly pulling her hood up.
"They must have somehow sensed something was wrong," Riku theorized, drawing his own hood up. He looked to Thorn. "It won't be safe here for a while."
"I know," she muttered as she moved quickly away. "Follow me." She led the way into the dense forest away from the gathering dusks. Once they were far enough away, she stopped and turned to look at him. "Alright, we should be good now."
"Why did you lead me all the way in here?" he asked her.
"Well, I assumed you wanted to chat and staying out in the open seemed like a really bad idea," she answered leaning against a tree. "So go ahead and ask your questions or whatever because I actually do have stuff I need to get done and sitting around chatting isn't going to help me any."
Riku frowned. "You're actually considering staying here? After what just happened, the Organization is probably going to send someone else here." She waved a hand through the air as though brushing his concerns aside. "I'll be just fine. I've managed to stay out of sight so far."
"Like you did back there?" He wasn't trying to pick a fight. Even though he knew little about this woman, she had helped him reunite with his friend back at Castle Oblivion. That counted for something in his book.
Thorn scowled but didn't address his concerns. Instead she asked, "How's Sora doing?"
Riku looked away from her. "He's sleeping."
"What do you mean sleeping?" she asked curiously.
"I can show you if you want," he told her seriously. "But it's better if I don't discuss it here. There's no telling who could be watching."
"Please, if there was anyone watching I'd probably be the one in trouble," Thorn scoffed. "Still, I see your point. It'll have to wait though. I have something I have to finish here first."
"It can't wait?"
She folded her arms across her chest, her gaze drifting downward thoughtfully. At length, she sighed and uncrossed her arms. "I suppose I could use a break. Alright, fine, but afterwards I need to be back here."
Riku nodded. "Understood." He opened a dark portal and gestured for her to follow.
"Where did you learn that?" Thorn asked him as she came through the portal after him.
"I've learned a lot of things over the past several months," he answered vaguely. Riku didn't want to get into how he was still fighting the darkness inside of him. It was something that haunted and shamed him to this day.
"Yeah, so have I," she muttered crossing her arms. "But even I haven't been able to travel between worlds using that."
"Let's just say I had a little help," he told her gesturing towards portal. "Let's just go."
"Fine," she sighed shaking her head before heading into the darkness.
The two traveled in silence as Thorn debated whether or not to look into his heart to get the answers she wanted. In the end, she decided not to as it was still kind of his private life and had nothing to do with her. When the pair reached the end of the tunnel, Thorn released a restrained groan.
"You're kidding. You're working with this guy?" she asked looking around a very familiar lab. "He's not actually around right now is he?"
"Who?" he asked confused by her reaction.
"Diz," she muttered with another groan. "I used to live here myself, and frankly I couldn't stand dealing with him."
"I can assure you, young lady, that the feeling was mutual," a deep voice answered as a door slid open.
Thorn and Riku both turned to see Diz enter the room. It was easy to say that there was no love lost between the mage and the man in red. The last time the two had spoken had been a very heated and bitter exchange of words. Following the argument, Thorn had chosen to jump into the darkness with a Nobody rather than stay with him any longer.
Riku glanced between the pair of them, clearly sensing the rising tension in the air. "You two know each other?"
"Unfortunately," Thorn answered acrimoniously.
"Ungrateful as ever, I see," Diz said, gazing at Thorn with what might have been contempt. "Need I remind you who it was who saved you from your world as it collapsed into darkness?"
"Madam Lulu," she answered just as coldly. "She asked you to take me away. I'd rather have stayed and continued to fight."
"So you'd rather lose your heart to darkness than except help from someone else?" he asked her scathingly.
"Let me think on that," she said tapping a finger against her chin. "Oh, yeah, I would if it meant saving my friends."
"They were already taken," Diz pointed out. "Only by living to fight another day could you have the chance to help."
"Yeah, and I could have done a lot more without your crappy help."
"Is this really necessary?" Riku suddenly spoke up cutting off their angry banter. "Is what happened back then really important?"
"No, not really," Thorn agreed with a shrug. She turned to face Riku, completely ignoring any other words or actions from the man in red. "So, are you going to show me what you meant by Sora sleeping?"
Riku nodded, wanting to steer the two in a direction away from the hostility as quickly as possible. He led the way down the hall to a room with a giant pod. In front of it a blonde girl stood wearing white. "Namine!" Thorn exclaimed.
The girl turned, her blue eyes widening. "Thorn," she said, looking pleasantly surprised.
"Glad to see you made it out of that place," the mage said with a smile.
The girl returned the smile, nodding as she did so. "You too. I was worried you might have…"
"I'm curious how you managed such a feat," Diz stated. "Considering you haven't the means to travel between worlds."
"Like I would tell you," Thorn muttered before turning back to the pod. Inside, she could see a heart. Sora's heart. Except… her eyes widened. The boy's heart was in tangles. "What happened to him?"
"What you're seeing is the result of Namine's meddling with his heart," Diz explained coldly. "It is also the result of her attempts to fix it."
"There are so many pieces missing," she mumbled scanning the mess before her. "What's left is so...tangled. How do you expect to fix this?"
"Remember, I have control over Sora's memories," Namine reminded her. "It will take time, but I can piece it back together in the right order."
"Looks like that'll take a year at least," the mage muttered looking over the mess again.
"I know, but I'm the only one who can do it," Namine acknowledged sadly.
"Huh...if I could do more I'd probably be able to help with that," Thorn commented more to herself than anyone else. "I can see them...it'd be easy...like untangling a rope or a string of Christmas lights." She took a step forward not hearing anything around her as she focused on the mass of hearts.
"Could you really do that?" Riku asked. His voice sounded almost hopeful.
After several moments, she shook her head. "No… I've never tried anything like that, and I'd rather not experiment with it either." She turned to the blonde girl with a soft smile. "Besides, I think Namine can handle it just fine without my help."
"That remains to be seen," Diz stated. "Her progress has been slow at best. Of course this could have all been avoided had she not muddled his heart in the first place."
Thorn glowered at him. "Lay off. It's not like she did it because she wanted to."
"No, she just happened to be in with the very same Organization you yourself chose to side with," Diz replied disdainfully.
"I didn't side with anyone."
"Willingly following that thing into who knows where is siding with them," Diz retorted harshly.
"Okay, I agreed to help them so I could find my friends," Thorn explained turning to the man in red and glaring daggers at him. "I used them just as they tried to use me. Once I'd gotten what I wanted I took off. Besides, while I was there they weren't doing anything wrong. They only wanted to get their hearts back. There's nothing wrong with that."
"Here you are still siding with them," Diz muttered in disgust.
"Look, they may not have hearts but they're still living beings," she growled, her voice slowly growing louder. "Just because they're different doesn't give you the right to treat them like they don't exist...like they don't matter."
The man in red shook his head from side to side. "After all this time, you still understand so little about the way of the worlds, and I haven't the time to teach you." He turned so abruptly his cape fluttered out behind him. "If you're business here is finished you may show yourself out." He made it to the door, then stopped without turning around. "By the way, I expect to be compensated for that box of ice cream you stole."
Thorn was tempted to flip him off as he left, but refrained from doing so in front of the other two. She looked to Riku whose expression was difficult to discern. "Do you think I'm stupid for thinking that?"
Slowly, he shook his head. "No, after all, Namine has been trying hard to make up for her mistake.I don't know much about Nobodies, and I can't really pass judgment around. Not after what I've done."
"I doubt what you've done is as bad as you think it is," she sighed turning away from Diz as she calmed down. "So, you've been doing Diz's dirty work while waiting for her to fix Sora then?"
"No, a problem has occurred," Riku answered ignoring her first comment. "Something is keeping Namine from being able to continue. I'm simply trying to figure out what it is and stop it."
"And you think Xion has something to do with this?" Thorn asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes...though I have to ask how you know her."
"She joined the organization just before Castle Oblivion. At the time I didn't get to see her face or anything like that. What you saw was my first time seeing her face."
Riku fell silent for several moments before asking, "Any chance you'd be willing to help us figure this out?"
Thorn ruefully shook her head. "Sorry, but I have my own mission I'm trying to finish. Besides, I already promised someone I wouldn't get involved with the Organization's business again."
The boy looked as though he were about to ask who, but thought better of it. "Fair enough."
"Thorn…" The mage glanced over to Namine who was staring up at her with an understanding expression. "Diz… he's not a bad person."
"No, he's probably not," Thorn agreed. "But I don't like how he treats you, and talks about Nobodies like they're garbage that needs to be swept up." She brushed some hair out of her face. "I should probably leave and head back to where I was."
"Alright," Riku agreed opening a portal. "Let's go."
Those few words made Thorn feel a bit better. She really hated dealing with Diz and knowing that she didn't have to stay there made her all the happier. "I don't think you have to worry too much," she commented once the two of them were in the portal on the way back to Neverland. "Namine will be able to put Sora back to normal and whatever problem the Organization is a part of will sort itself out. His memories are in good hands. He'll wake up soon enough."
"Thanks, but I'm still going to be looking into this," Riku replied slowly.
"I figured you would. Just don't lose yourself looking for the answers."
"Right," he said, and offered her a small, parting smile. "Be careful out there."
Shippoman: Looks like Thorn is getting into some rather messy situations. Can the two youngest members keep her existence a secret? And will Axel find out she'd been seen? Only time will tell, and so will we if given the chance. Just remember to R&R and let us know you're still with us.
