Chapter 6: Heartless, Neutrals, and Nobodies; New Recruits (Part 6)
The door opened, letting the teens into the classroom. Roxas was still shaken up from last hour, but was prepared to leave all of that behind for this class.
Lexaeus stood at the front of the room with his eyes closed. He muttered, "Take your seats." Everyone sat down in a desk. Every desk had a small laptop on it. "Today we start our first lesson…about the Heartless, the Nobodies, and the Neutrals."
"What about them?" Axel asked. "I've heard that there were two gangs called the Heartless and the Nobodies, who were constantly at war with one another. To stop this war from destroying the entire city, a random group of four started a gang called the Neutrals, in order to protect those harmed by the other two gangs."
Roxas said, "I've never heard of these gangs…what city were they in?"
"Take out your text books under your desks and open it to page fifty-three," Lexaeus said, and he took a book of his own. Everyone opened theirs, and Lexaeus started reading the fifty-third page. "In the town of Traverse Town, a city for all to go to when they've lost their true homes, a couple of people wanted that city all to their selves. They formed a gang called the Heartless to match their cruel personalities. They started kidnapping people and ordering their loved ones to give them ransom."
Roxas listened closely. Lexaeus continued, "That's when a few created the Nobodies…they sort of came from nowhere, hence the name Nobodies. Nobody knew this gang except for the Heartless. The Nobodies formed together to sneak around the Heartless's defenses, hoping to rescue the ones they've kidnapped. After the rescues, three of the Nobodies were obsessed with power and killed an entire district. The rest of the Nobodies followed their example and started killing right away. That's when four people, two previous Nobodies and two previous Heartless, created the Neutrals to stop the actions of the two other gangs."
Everyone was enjoying the story.
Lexaeus said, "The Neutrals got the leaders of the Heartless and Nobodies to go prison, and the rest of the members of each gang disappeared. Years later, and two gangs, also called the Heartless and Nobodies, were created in the town called Radiant Garden. When word about those two spread around, three random citizens, who've only met that day, went online and met up with the other four neutrals. Those three were entered into the Neutrals, right after two others had previously joined. During the fight between the three gangs, an unknown Neutral, said to be one of the three newer ones, killed a member by the name of Auron. The killer remained in the Neutrals, promising that none of them will be harmed again."
Roxas loved this history of the world, but was also frightened of it.
Lexaeus continued, "The remaining members of the Neutrals, Leon, Aerith, Cid, Yuffie, Tifa, Wakka, Sephiroth, and Cloud, sort of split up. Leon, Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie stayed in Traverse Town, Wakka went undercover on the Destiny Islands, Tifa and Cloud stayed in Radiant Garden, and Sephiroth, the killer of Auron, left and became the School that Never Was School Board Leader—"
Everyone gasped. "You mean…" Zexion muttered. "You mean to say that the killer of a fellow Neutral is our school board's leader? Who's to say he won't go after any other Neutral."
"He did," Lexaeus said, focusing on his class. "Earlier today, the Neutral called Wakka was declared dead on the Destiny Islands; several people spotted Sephiroth on the scene."
"What?" Roxas said, finally catching on. "Cloud and Tifa are part of the Neutrals? And Aerith too? I had no idea…and who is Sephiroth, you said? The one who killed two members of his own gang?"
"Yes," Lexaeus muttered. "It is rather unfortunate…unfortunate indeed."
Maleficent and Pete, the two people who had met in detention, were wandering the halls of the school, at a fast pace, going from one elevator to the next in order to shake off any unwanted company.
"So when'd ya get here?" Pete asked.
"This morning," Maleficent replied. "Master Ansem had told me to seek out one of his pitiful lackeys, and help him out here when he needs it. Although I would've rather stuck with another of his disciples, Riku, I knew you'd need the most help and showed up right away."
"Is that right?" Pete asked, and then heard footsteps. He immediately pried open an elevator door, shoved Maleficent into it, followed by himself, and sent them two off to a random floor. "That was close."
"You imbecile," Maleficent snapped. "I could've hurt that man, and you dare take that opportunity away from me! Blast it! Now, buffoon, the reason I'm here is to search out the Heartless members stationed here."
The two exited the opening elevator, and walked down the hall. They passed up a man who stood leaning against the wall. He had cold black eyes, and he wore black robes and a black cape with a blood-red interior. He smirked at the two and said, "I take it you're the two I'm supposed to meet."
Pete stared at the guy with wide eyes, but Maleficent didn't even look at the man. "I take it you're correct, Jafar." She turned to the man and smiled. "Maleficent. And this lug here is Pete."
"The pleasure is all mine," Jafar said with a cold smile. "Master Ansem would be very upset if I didn't meet up with you two. He apparently wants something having to do with a 'Key'."
"Yes, of course," Maleficent muttered. "On to the next floor, to meet the next Heartless stationed here."
Xemnas was talking to Xigbar, who had a free period this hour. "Xemnas, listen, I saw Ventus with my own eyes. As if I could mistake him. He looked like Roxas, only…angrier, colder, and more menacing looking."
"Enough of this," Xemnas shot back. "I sense powerful Heartless members; though not as powerful as Ansem…it started when you sent Pete to detention. After that, Xaldin said he vanished with some woman. That's when I felt the presence of seven members of the Heartless."
"Seven?" Xigbar shouted. "In a Nobody school? We would've seen them. And besides, they can't even penetrate our defenses!"
"Yes, well, just ask them that," Xemnas said. "They'll tell you how they got here, and then they'll kill you. Plain and simple, Xigbar."
In another floor, Maleficent, Pete, and Jafar walked down a hallway. A large column of fire appeared in front of them. The fire was quiet, though, so the person creating it didn't want to be heard. The fire vanished, leaving behind a man.
He had light blue hair that billowed around in a nonexistent wind, making it look like flames. He had yellow eyes and black pupils, which gleamed red in the light of his glowing hair. His skin was grey. He wore a black robe like a toga.
"Hades," he said. "Hades, lord of the flames, lord of the dead, you know…" He rushed to Maleficent, and put a clawed hand under her chin. "My beautiful colleague, to what do I owe this surprise?"
"Save it, Hades," Maleficent snapped. "Ansem sent me here to take the six members stationed here. Are you sure you weren't followed because of that smoky air around you?"
"You!" yelled a voice, and several teachers along with Vexen appeared from an open elevator. Vexen spoke. "The Heartless, those menaces…they've infiltrated the castle!"
"You're right!" Maleficent screamed. "Jafar, take Pete and get out of here. Hades and I'll take care of these two." Jafar grabbed Pete's arm, and the two vanished in a pink smoke.
Maleficent pointed a crooked finger at Vexen, and green flames appeared all around the blonde, taking hold of the teachers around him and making them vanish. "What?"
Hades vanished and reappeared in front of Vexen. "Boo," Hades muttered, making Vexen stumble back.
Jafar and Pete ran down a hall, being chased by several teachers, including Xaldin and Luxord. Pete grabbed inside his pocket and yanked out two small, two-inch marbles. He threw them at the teachers, and they extended into the size of bowling balls.
Every teacher got hit, except for Xaldin and Luxord, who jumped over each of them. Maleficent and Hades appeared to the side of Luxord and Xaldin, Maleficent snapped her fingers, and the two teachers fell down, passed out.
"Oh, good, it's you, darling Maleficent," said a man's voice, and coming out of an elevator was a man in his thirties. He had very thin, stringy gray hair, and his skin seemed sort of gray. His eyes were pitch black with no pupils. On his head is a gray fedora. "I'm Oogie, and if I remember right, Ansem sent me here to meet you. He also sent another with me, but she disappeared a while ago."
"I'm here," said a woman's voice. Black ooze made its way out of the wall, and when it all vanished, standing there was a woman in her twenties. Her skin was a light purple color, she had short white hair, lips as red as blood, and a seashell necklace around her neck. She has a small beauty mark near her chin on the left side of her face. "The name's Ursula…" she looked to Oogie, then to Jafar, and then to Maleficent and Pete. She stared at Hades, and then said, "He's late. He knows better than to keep me waiting."
"Uh…who, exactly?" Maleficent asked.
"Hook," Ursula moaned. "Hooky never keeps a woman waiting…he needs to hurry it up!" She stared at the ceiling. "Captain Hook, I know you can hear me, so come on."
Xemnas and Xigbar remained talking after sending Xaldin, Vexen, and Luxord to find the Heartless members. That's when their conversation was interrupted.
A voice yelled, "Blast it all! That dang Ursula said to meet here, in the office, but no! She couldn't have the decency to show." He had the stereotypical pirate accent. Xemnas and Xigbar turned around to see an odd looking man next to the school's entrance. He was a thin man with curly, black, shoulder-length hair that drapes over his shoulders, a large, hooked nose, a thin, black mustache that angles upward sharply, and a large chin. He wears a frilly, white shirt underneath a red coat. In place of his left hand was not a hand, but a hook. He wore a red hat with a large white feather sticking out of the top.
"Excuse me?" Xemnas asked. "Who are you?"
"The greatest pirate in all the seven seas!" the man screamed in glee; Xigbar and Xemnas rolled their eyes. "Captain Hook, ready to slit the throat of thy enemy!"
"Right…" Xemnas muttered. "I've never seen you before—"
"Did you really lose your way here, Ursula and Oogie?" he asked, as the two he called out appeared behind him. The two tried to testify, but Maleficent and Pete stepped in front of Hook, Maleficent holding out a hand to silence them. Jafar stood back with Hades in the corner of the room.
"It's you," Xigbar said, noticing Pete. "And this young woman must've been the one to bail you out. Has it really come to this…has it come to the point that even kids have a part in the Heartless and Nobody Wars?"
"We may be young," Pete said, "but I'll go all the way for Master Ansem and Mistress Maleficent."
"You know his name?" Xemnas said in shock. "He only tells his name to the ones he's gonna kill, but seeing as you guys aren't dead yet…he used to tell me if he ever became leader of anything, he'd never give away his name. Look how much that's changed. So you guys are the seven Heartless, I assume. That's a shame that you've chosen a dark path."
"You're as guilty as them," the voice of Cloud said, appearing next to Xemnas and Xigbar. Tifa watched silently behind him. "The Heartless and Nobodies are two very harsh gangs created eight years ago…there's no seeing the light now. Okay now, no fighting on school grounds. Should I repeat the Law of Equivalent Ganging Rights again?"
"No," Maleficent said.
"Please don't," Xemnas muttered.
"He's gonna do it anyway," Xigbar said.
"There is to be no fighting on school grounds while there are still students present," Cloud said. "Failure to follow these instructions will result in immediate jail-time. Killing another member of a different gang or a minor is completely prohibited, otherwise you'd be sent to… you-know-where…" Everyone shuddered. They knew this law very well. If you kill a member of the opposite gang, or kill a young child younger than sixteen, you'd be sentenced to eternal darkness in the Realm of Shadows, a worse-than-hell, dark pit of despair. All who go in will never know of the joys of heaven or the sorrows of hell, only knowing what true darkness feels like.
"We know!" Xemnas yelled. "You've got what you wanted here, I bet!" Xemnas said to the seven Heartless. "So just get out of—" They all vanished. Hades vanished in blue flames as Maleficent vanished in green, Oogie and Jafar vanished in pink rays of light, Ursula turned into bubbles and floated out the now open doorway, and Pete and Hook ran out the building.
Cloud went to his desk and pressed a red button, signaling the bell. The final bell. Class was over. School was over. And they'd have to do the same things over again.
Everyone said their goodbyes. Roxas knew his life would be slightly better because of his new friendships with Demyx and Zexion, and especially Axel. He still remained weirded out by Marluxia, and frightened by Larxene and Saix.
Things would never be the same again for Roxas, the Key of Destiny. What did that mean, anyway? They called him the 'light's chosen one', and have often compared him to his late father, Ventus. What did his school know about him that Roxas, his son, did not?
Was Ventus viewed as a hero or a menace? What was with that wacky vision between him and Xigbar? Something freaky is happening between him and this school.
From this point on, he may be playing right into the Nobodies' clutches…but that's a story for another time. For now, let the fun youth have his little story, because after the next couple of weeks, he'd have wished he'd died beside his father.
Here…in this world of Nothingness.