Hollow Bastion
Sora exited the dark corridor, glancing around quickly to check no one had seen his arrival. Unless there was someone very well hidden though, there had been no one to notice.
He was at the top of a long flight of stairs, along what appeared to be a fair sized wall. On one side was a sheer drop, while on the other a winding path lead through a partially rebuilt housing district. Through a gate along the path, he spotted a large open area where people had gathered around four figures, two tall men in various dark clothes, each with a massive sword, and two slightly shorter women, one with black hair and also dressed similarly, the other clothed in pinks and whites with brown hair. He listened in, trying to make out anything, but all he got was the names Leon and Cloud. Probably two of the people there. It was impossible to tell anything without getting closer, and that wasn't an option.
It seemed unlikely there would be any Heartless near a gathering like that without their being noticed, and less likely that Marluxia or Larxene would be there if they were looking into the Heartless here, so instead Sora made his way along the top of the wall heading down a shorter flight of stairs that lead into an area like that of a fortress. The wide windows offered a considerable view over a canyon filled with Heartless that lead to a tall castle in the distance. Part way up it, there was a larger version of the Heartless emblem.
Sora glanced at the view, but spotted no one from the Organization and continued through, exiting into a partially reconstructed area that was clearly under construction.
As he entered, he overheard Larxene's unmissable voice.
"What about Sora?"
"What about him?" Marluxia's voice replied. Sora stopped, trying to figure out where they were.
"I talked with him yesterday. He might be persuadable."
"Might?"
"He was uncertain when I asked him. He said he'd be more likely to go with it if it still got him a Heart. I think it might be just about the only thing he cares about." Sora nodded to himself. That, and he considered himself at least slightly indebted to Xemnas still. That was to be expected though.
"That'll be a part of the goals too. If he's on our side, half the plan falls into place easily, and Castle Oblivion is merely a form of assurance."
Sora spotted them. Hidden behind some sheets of metal.
"Why not just ask me yourself?" he announced, strolling down the steps to meet them. "I am right here, you know."
"What are you doing here?" It seemed to come from both of them at once.
"Coming to find out if your hypothetical situation from yesterday is a bit more real than you told me," he answered. "If it's not, then just say so. I'm meant to be in Twilight Town right now, and if I'm going to ignore my mission it had better be for a good reason. I don't want to find out what Saïx would say if he caught me."
"Feeling a little rebellious are we?" Marluxia asked, an eyebrow raised.
"I could ask the same of you. A change of leadership, I heard. Why?"
"Oh, various reasons. How do we know we can trust you?"
"Would I be here instead of collecting Hearts if I weren't genuinely interested?"
"What makes you think we actually need you?"
"Would you have been taking about your plans if I was with you if you didn't?"
"Why should I let you in on the plan?"
"Do you think I didn't hear enough of it to incriminate you if I wanted to?" Sora sighed, crossing his arms then continued, "Do you really want to continue playing twenty questions with me, or can we just get to the point? I could turn you in and what you've said would be enough for them to do whatever it is they do to traitors, but I haven't. You're talking about seeing if you can persuade me, well, here I am. You don't need to. Don't want me? Just say so, and I'll go back to Twilight Town."
"And no doubt tell Saïx as soon as you get back to the castle, right?"
"Maybe," he shrugged. "If it suited me."
Marluxia thought, putting a hand to his forehead. "We can't eliminate you without attracting attention, and we can't just let you go in case you go running to Saïx – or anyone else for that matter."
"So we take him on board then," Larxene said. "Protects our interests twice over then. He won't turn us in because he'll get caught too, and he'll work with us so we don't try to get out of it by dropping it all on him."
"How kind of you," Sora murmured sardonically. "No loyalty among traitors, I see." Larxene glared at him for a moment, something he ignored.
"What do you know of Castle Oblivion, Sora?" Marluxia asked.
"Never heard of it," he replied without turning a hair. Maybe it was just because he was a Nobody, but deceiving them didn't seem to be hard for him, or even bother him in the slightest, yet he had a nagging feeling it would have been different had it been someone else, like Axel.
"It's a world the Organization has been using as a second base of operations for a while now that has some unusual properties."
"Unusual? It's a castle, how is that unusual?"
"Many of the rooms inside react to the memories of those passing through," Marluxia explained wearily." If they expect to see a place, then the rooms show that place. Vexen has been working on a way to exploit that to turn it to our own ends."
"Yours, or those of the Organization?"
"Both, for now. There's a certain boy and his friends who we plan to lure to the castle. The Organization merely wants them out of the way, we however intend to turn him to our own ends."
"Taking over the Organization. I see. So what's so special about him?"
"He is one of the few who share your otherwise unique ability."
Undoubtedly his somebody. That meant the friends would undoubtedly be Donald and Goofy. Sora decided to keep this to himself for now.
"The Keyblade," he nodded. "So that's what makes him nothing more than assurance."
"Exactly. Though your interest certainly allows us to advance matters."
"Who else is in on it?"
"Just us," Larxene told him brightly. "You're the only one I went to who showed even the slightest interest in ruining Xemnas' day sometime."
"Let me guess. Your ultimate goal is to use this boy of yours alongside me, the two keyblades dispatch Xemnas and you go from right down low to lording it on high above the others?"
"He's sharp, I'll give him that," Larxene observed to Marluxia.
"Almost too sharp," Marluxia agreed. "Get any sharper and you'll cut yourself."
"Maybe," Sora murmured. It seemed almost too easy to him. Possibly a trap. "So what now?"
"Nothing," Marluxia answered. "Until Larxene and I get assigned to Castle Oblivion for the operation there. Saïx has already given me command of the operation. It's merely a small matter of waiting to see who else he'll assign to the castle with us."
"Thinking of thinning the ranks a little? Making it easier to reach Xemnas?"
"Perhaps. I doubt we'll be able to bring in many of the higher ranked members."
"Vexen said he'd be there remember," Larxene said. "And Zexion too."
"It's anyone's guess who else Saïx will assign, but it doesn't really matter. All they have to do is wear down the boy to the point we can use him." He shook his head, "That's all we can do for now. We wait until the operation starts. So Sora, I assume I can count on you to work with us?"
"Obviously," he answered. "I can't show any interest in wanting to work with you at the castle though. Saïx has no idea I know about it. He'd find it suspicious if I suddenly knew."
"I'll talk with him. Maybe I can persuade him to let me borrow you for a time."
"Borrow?" he asked, trying to sound insulted. "What do you think I am, a bit of meat?"
"Poor choice of terms perhaps. You ought to get back to your mission Sora, in case anyone goes looking for you. We'll find you if anything comes up."
"Don't mind me then. I'll turn up to bother you if I feel the need." He half turned, then threw back over his shoulder, "Don't think this has got you entirely off the hook though. I might still turn you in."
"You still need convincing?"
"No. I believe you so far. I'm going to see what happens and make my choice closer to the time."
"You're playing both sides of it, aren't you?"
"Just protecting my interests. After what you said earlier, I don't think I should count on you to get me out of it if something happens, so I'll make my own arrangements."
"And if we start to look like turning you in, you'll drop us in it."
"Naturally. No honour among traitors," he told them, then went to Twilight Town. There was nothing wrong with doing the fake mission Saïx had given him for a bit.
Anyway, maybe it was better he had the chance of being seen here taking on the mission. If someone did see him and either Marluxia or Larxene asked after him, they'd be able to check that he really had come here, instead of reporting in directly.
His keyblade had changed yet again he noted, absently sending one Shadow flying into another, both disappearing on colliding with a wall. The handles around the grip were more rounded, and only just barely touched the end of the blade. Any more of a gap and the keychain would have fallen off it.
The handles were now a grey-blue, with a silver handle, ending in a sharp point, formed from two overlapping triangles, each with an almost heart-shaped gap between the edges.
He idly wondered what made the keychain choose the form of his keyblade, but decided it probably didn't matter all that much. As long as it did the job, which it did once more by destroying a passing Soldier Heartless.
The residents of the town gave him mixed glances this time. There was still the usual distrust most showed, but some seemed wary of him now, probably because he kept the keyblade in hand. No doubt seeing him casually dispatch any Heartless that strayed too close to him helped reinforce that.
Some few watched him pass with some measure of respect, and a few even gave him respectful nods. Grateful for his work with the Heartless?
It didn't matter to him. He wasn't doing it for them, all he wanted out of it was a Heart to call his own.
He realised there was a hidden benefit to being inside Marluxia's plan. If it looked like it was working, he could decide to go the whole way and not bother to report back to Saïx at all. He'd realise what would have happened if Sora did do that, and that meant Xemnas would too – but Sora decided if he was going to make that choice, best to leave it as late as possible, to give them the least time to counter it.
He still considered it unlikely he'd turn on Xemnas though. Somehow, he couldn't find enough confidence in Marluxia's plot to think it'd reach that stage.