Savior of Darkness

by 14darkness

There's more to darkness and light than meets the eye. Jexa's the newest recruit in the Organization, a Nobody that can control darkness. As if things are ever that simple. First of three parts. No canon character pairings or yaoi.

10. Lessons to be Learned

Jexa woke up in the Dark with her hood on, the darkness gone, and Nothing extending a hand to help her up. She took it and was hauled to her feet.

Nothing slid his hand out from hers. "How do you fair dearest?" he asked, smiling.

She stretched. "Great. What was that?"

"Energy the darkness provided. While you were asleep I took the liberty of making your darkness more literate. I hope you do not mind."

She pulled her hood off and smoothed her bangs. "Nope. In fact, I think it'll be nice. Those short sentences were annoying."

"I am glad we share views." He tipped his hat to her. "You should return to your world soon."

She nodded. "Alright. Thanks for everything."

"You're most welcome." He smiled sweetly as she began to wander off into the shadows, the smile turning a little devious as she got father away. "Most welcome."

Jexa walked aimlessly through the endless darkness, unsure of where the exit to the outside world was. Every step was just like the last and, if not for Nothing's shrinking shape behind her, she should think she was going nowhere. After a while she grew bored and called her darkness, but he didn't come. "Cirix," she yelled. There was a rattling of chains beside her, chains holding her darkness at bay. She cocked her head and went over to untangle him from his restraints. "What do you think you're doing?"

He shook himself, crouched down, and pounced on her. Jexa yelped in surprise, ending up underneath her darkness. "You're an idiot," he hissed. "What you're doing stupid."

She rolled her eyes. "He said he made you literate."

"Better at communicating, but time I'm best is time worried. You're so stupid!"

"Great, now get off." Cirix growled softly as he padded on to the dark surface, claws she didn't know he had clicking on it. Now that she was closer to him, he looked less like the deformed Possessor he once was and now was more a dangerous one, a creature completely black, defined in form, and clawed. Jexa liked it, but he was discontent. She couldn't figure it out.

"Are you okay Cirix?" she asked.

"No!" he howled, his voice as grating as ever. "Not okay. Nothing is closer, is pleased even." He perked up. "Xemnas, you hate Xemnas, right?"

She sat up and looked the other way. "I don't know about hate…"

"Fear?"

She paused. "Yes," she said softly.

Cirix laughed. "Fear. Funny." She glared at him, but he didn't care. "If you fear Superior, then stay away Nothing, little Prodigy of the Shadows. You shocked when heard that. Where hear it before? Nothing, that's where. Just, stay away from Nothing if want nothing to do with Xemnas. Xemnas insane, hears whispers of nothing, some from Nothing. Get it? Please understand."

She didn't understand. Sure, Xemnas had used the same title Nothing had, but he was creative. Maybe he scared her at times with his unspoken ideas, a lot of the time actually, but he was an inventive Nobody nonetheless. There was no way the two of them could be talking since Nothing had said no one else could see or hear him. It wasn't feasible. "I don't think so. Nothing said-"

Cirix laughed again, harshly and chiding this time. "'Nothing said.' Why do you believe him? Zexion? For the thousandth time, he's deceiving you."

She stood up, stiff as a board. "I want to go back to the castle now, Cirix. Take me back."

He bristled and bit her. "Idiot!" he growled through her arm.

"Ow!" she cried, grabbing where he bit her. There was nothing there. She was laying in her bed, clamping down on where her darkness had bit her. She pushed up the sleeve to find welts on the top and bottom, all in the shape of little ovals. She covered it back up. The bruises on her arm from the previous day reminded her to take a look at her face. There was some impressive bruising on it as well, but nothing could hide the angry red scar that so resembled the Freeshooter's.

It isn't as bad as Xigbar's. His is much worse than mine will ever become. Once she got ready for the day, she headed out for the Gray Area. Saix was staring outside the window to a spot where there was nothing was but sky.

"Morning Saix," she yawned.

"You are the first to wake besides Xemnas and myself," he said, extremely tired. "Go wake the others. Go through the hall, call them, open their doors, and if they still do not come, you are given permission to do whatever it takes to get them out of bed."

Her face fell. "The whole Organization?"

"Axel left for an early mission. The rest have yet to show up. Go."

Jexa sulked back to the members' quarters. Everyone had to be woken, including Xaldin and Xigbar, the two people you didn't want on your bad side. At least there wasn't Vexen, Larxene, Lexaeus, or Zexion to deal with. Each of them would have been a pain in their own unique way. She rapped on each of the doors, yelling, "Wake up, wake up, wake up! I don't have all day." Mostly there were moans and groans, but Xaldin answered, "I am awake. I will be out by the time you finish your rounds." She hoped he was being honest; she really didn't want to have to go in to wake him and risk his spears. Unfortunately, no one else gave her such a reply. Jexa sighed and began opening the doors one by one, revealing members with their heads hidden by blankets or pillows, some mumbling, "Go away," or "Can't you let me sleep?" Xaldin did exit his room by the time she was all the way on the other side of the hall and nodded to her as he turned to go to the Grey Area. It was a good thing to know that he wasn't going to be a problem, but the others, they would present an issue. All of the doors had to be flung open and even then only Xion stepped out. Jexa growled and stomped to the center of the hall.

"Listen up!" she yelled. "Anyone who doesn't get his lazy butt out of bed will get an army of Heartless in his room. If that doesn't work, I'll come in there and drag you to the Grey Area, ready or not."

"As if," muttered Xigbar.

"Five more minutes," pleaded Demyx.

"Nnngh," moaned Roxas.

Luxord sighed and came out of his room, his hands up in surrender. "I know when the game's up," he said, giving her a sleepy smile. She smiled back and closed his door. His room didn't need to be torn up while the others were waking.

She peered inside the remained four doors. "So no one else is getting up?" Two 'yes's' and one groan came from the Nobodies. Jexa cracked her knuckles and summoned ten Blue Rhapsody for Xigbar, ten Yellow Opera for Demyx, and ten Red Nocturnes for Roxas, "Last chance," she warned.

"Go a-way," Xigbar said for everyone. Jexa shrugged and sent the Heartless off to their rooms, closing the doors behind them. In the rooms, various swears were exchanged as the Nobodies found that she hadn't been kidding when she said she would be throwing Heartless at them. Jexa would have enjoyed the experience more if she didn't feel so tired. Summoning so many Heartless in one turn had taken all the extra energy the darkness had provided her the other night along with a little of her own. Shaking it off, she waited for people to start coming out of their rooms.

Demyx raced out of his room first, some of the Yellow Opera still following him. "Goawaygoawaygoaway please!" he cried as he skidded down the floors towards the Grey Area. Lightning bolts charged the floor where he had been standing moments earlier.

"They will when you see Saix," she called after him, the reassurance she meant to provide missing from her voice. Wonderful. This would mean another cycle of revenge, Demyx starting it off this time. She didn't want to think about it.

Roxas stumbled out next. He dispatched the last Heartless that was following him and watched the heart float up through the ceiling. He was still very sleepy, but there was some humor in his eyes. "If Saix puts me on heart duty today I'm counting those," he joked.

Jexa chuckled, closing his and Demyx's doors. "You can try to convince Saix of that." He scowled at the thought of talking to anyone seriously in the morning and followed Demyx's route out a little slower.

Xigbar didn't show, even after she had waited a full five minutes. "Xigbar," she said, knocking on his door. One diamond shot through the wood, missing her by an inch. Jexa prepared to control him but thought better of it. There was more than one way to deal with a Nobody.

"Xigbar, come on, I have to- Larxene, I thought you were dead. Where've you been?"

"Waiting at Castle Oblivion for one of those traitors to help me," she snarled in her Larxene-voice. Xigbar shifted in his bed. This was bad. "I almost died from that little Keyblade brat, and did anyone help me, no! And what do I find when I come back? My room, destroyed! Someone killed my closet, and I want to know who."

Jexa relished in her private role-play. "Sorry, can't help you there. Maybe later, but for now, could you get Xigbar out of bed?"

She snickered in a way she thought sounded like Larxene. "It would be my pleasure. Oooh, how about we make this interesting? I'll count to ten, and if Xigbar isn't out by then, I'll electrocute him."

"Works for me."

Xigbar scrambled inside his room, pulling on his boots and straightening his eye patch as he heard 'Larxene' counting from one to ten, making each one a minute just to stress him out. She was on six, although that didn't mean anything. Once, Demyx had been on four and then ten. He rushed out on the count of nine, Arrowguns drawn, and saw no Larxene but Jexa saying ten in Larxene's voice as she sprinted down the corridor. He smirked and shot a diamond at her as she turned a corner, missing her by an inch. Now that he thought about it, 'Larxene' had been a little too high-pitched and monotone to actually be Larxene. Whatever. He would get her later when they were on a mission. Everyone got paired up eventually, except Xemnas and Saix, unless the two worked together, but it didn't really matter. He started to work out the various ways to annoy her as he walked upside down on the ceiling to the Gray Area. Work was with Luxord today; he knew that much about the day's mission. Joy, and LOL. Only recently had he learned text speech and found how great it was to get on other's nerves. He brought his phone out of his pocket; how it even stayed in his pocket while he was upside down he had no clue, and pushed the 'text' button. Hey, what're you doing? he sent to some random person. He actually had a 'random person' for a send option on his phone. There were a lot of plain old random buttons that did nothing expect bug others he didn't know.

Keeping watch so my friend doesn't hurt herself trying to move, came the reply from a number with a world code he had never seen before. Who're you and how did you get my number?

Xigbar, and IDK. Wanna know what my number is? It's 2, lol.

There was a wait in the reply as the other person read his message probably several times to try and make sense of it. Of course, they wouldn't, but the wait was worth it, usually. What're you talking about? was the reply.

If you don't know then I'm not going to tell you, he said, amused.

Yeah, alright. Hey, I'm going to call you.

Xigbar chuckled as his phone rang. It never made sense to him why someone would tell him they were going to call him instead of just calling him.

"Hi, who is this?" said a totally unfamiliar voice.

"This would be Xigbar, the guy who was texting you. My name hasn't changed since then."

"Oh hi Xigbar!" the guy said as if they had been friends forever. "When are you coming-? Hold on a second." A female voice belonging to someone with probably serious injuries started talking to his mystery texter/caller, then began arguing with him. "Hey hey, don't move, you'll hurt yourself," the person said, muted, then, more clearly, "Here, you can talk to him." A grumbled 'thank you' was given.

"Xigbar, why are you texting Link?" said the girl.

"Well I'm not texting him now, so I guess we're okay." He decided not to press the fact that he didn't know who Link was and let her talk.

"And when did you get a cell phone? Where did you get a cell phone? How did you get his number? Why-?"

Xigbar laughed. Meaningless conversation was always fun, especially when you could confuse the other person. "Enough with the questions. Twilight Town, where else, and I got it about a month ago. I keep prank calling Xemnas and he hasn't figured it out yet. I texted him randomly, so there."

"Fine. So, when are you guys getting here?"

This was going a step too far. She was taking in the information as if she knew like the back of her hand. "Err, what?"

"You know, to help everyone defend the castle against the assassins. Meta Knight's wearing himself out keeping watch outside, so it would be great if you came to help him, although I guess Vincent is the one who's organizing all of this. I don't know. Axel told you everything, didn't he?"

"Axel's alive?" he blurted out. He hadn't seen him since before C.O. A shocked silence was all he received. She called for a Niran, listened to her for a minute, exclaimed, 'What?', and then dropped the phone. Link volunteered to pick it up, ignoring the girl's protests of wanting to get it herself, and gave it back to her.

"Sorry wrong Xigbar," she said quickly, and then hung up. He stared at his phone and thought about calling Link back, whoever Link even was, but thought better of it. If they were expecting the Organization to fend off assassins for them and got into as much trouble as the girl was in, then it would be better to leave well enough alone. He could always find out later. As he was getting around to standing on the floor again, he thought about what the girl had said. Sorry, wrong Xigbar. Wrong Xigbar? Was there more than one of him? Where was that world anyway? It wasn't one they knew about or even should have been able to reach by any means. He decided to leave the question alone and pursue an issue that would make his head hurt less.

Roxas was waiting for Jexa in the Grey Area, looking a little embarrassed. Jexa, still being completely emotionless, regarded the next few hours as nothing other than an inconvenience.

"Saix said you might have some, well, he said issues, with me having to train you," the blond boy said awkwardly. "I don't like it any more than you do, so we'll just get it over, okay?"

"Alright. Let's go. Which world did you have in mind?"

Roxas lifted his head up and saw the bruising on her face. "What happened to you?" he said, startled.

"This," she said, pointing to the scar. "Was done by a Dancer Nobody. This-" She indicated the rest of her face. "Was a result of a training session with Saix."

Roxas stared for a moment before finding his voice again. "I- I'm not going to be that, harsh."

"Which world, Roxas?"

"Oh, right. Twilight Town. Saix assigned it."

Jexa nodded and opened a portal. "Is there some reason the Organization uses that world so much for their operations?"

"Not that I know of, but there might be. Why?"

"Just curious." They came out at the station. Roxas didn't seem too pleased about it. "Something wrong?"

He summoned his Keyblade in a barrage of light, something Jexa wasn't too happy about. "No. I was thinking about going to the sandlot to teach you, but this place works fine."

"Just as long as I don't get pounded the next time I fight Saix, I'm fine with whatever you want to teach me." She brought out her sword and held it at her side. Roxas eyed it warily.

"What now?"

"Nothing. I just, never mind. It doesn't matter." He paused. "First, you need a better stance. Someone could knock you over or hit you and you would be able to block them."

She corrected her footing, putting one foot behind her and bending the other knee, and held her sword out in front with both hands at an angle. Roxas nodded with approval.

"Okay, now show me how you block."

"I don't know how."

He stared at her, thinking she was joking, but she was serious. "How long have you been fighting?"

"About two years."

He gawked at her. "How are you still alive?"

"Obviously I did lose."

"But you've been fighting for two whole years!"

"I only had to fight Heartless.

"Okay, but-" He swung his Keyblade around and struck her in the stomach. She lost her grip on her sword and staggered back. "You really should've learned."

"They were, only Heartless," she gasped. The attack had knocked the wind out of her. "And you said, you weren't, going to be harsh."

He helped her stand straight again. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've gotten much better with the Keyblade since Xion joined."

"You can tell me all about what you think of Xion later. Now, I want to know how to block."

"Oh, right."

For the next two hours they worked together to figure out which way worked best for her, deciding on a one-handed, slightly vertical hold, and perfecting it. Roxas was very patient through, probably because Jexa kept calming him down whenever he began to get upset. It wasn't for his peace of mind, but so she would learn how to be a more efficient fighter instead. With Nothing's gift, it was the only goal worth pursuing. By the time they were finished, she was much better at deflecting blows, although she still preferred dodging to standing and almost being hit.

"Good job," Roxas said after the fifth time she had blocked him without fail. "Do you want to work on technique or dodge rolling next?"

Jexa scraped her sword across the pavement in front of her in order to stay calm easier, making a sound that grated upon Roxas' ears. "What's dodge rolling?"

"When you hit the ground and roll out of the way of the other person's attack."

"Tempting, but I would rather refrain from knocking myself out, thanks. Let's work on technique instead."

The scraping noise, which was close to fingernails being dragged down a blackboard, and her sarcasm got to him. "Fine. Y'know, you're a lot like Saix."

"I am not," she argued, killing the noise, to his relief.

"Are too," Roxas said. "Now, here's one that works well on a still person." He ran and jumped a few feet in the air, then brought his Keyblade down on the head of an imaginary opponent.

"That has to be the stupidest move ever," she said with distain. "And how am I like Saix?"

"We'll see how you do against it," he challenged. "The Saix thing: You act the same. You have the same get-to-the-point type attitude he has, but nicer-ish."

"Whatever." What he thought about her likeness to Saix didn't matter to her as long as it didn't spread to the rest of the Organization. She watched as Roxas jumped in the air and brought his Keyblade over his head in preparation to slam it down on hers. Once he started falling back to earth, she threw up her guard, sending him back to where he started. She sent away her sword and kneeled over him. "You do realize I could have gutted you? Like I said, that was a stupid, stupid move."

"Nngh. Think it was my Somebody's move," he groaned, clutching his right arm. The same metal-on-metal force she had felt the other day must have affected him in the same way but worse, since he had put more force behind his attack.

"You're not going to die. Get up." She paused, listening to her own words. "Jeez, I really do sound like Saix. Sorry about that. I don't mean to." There wasn't much sincerity in her voice, but to another Nobody an apology without sarcasm was pretty good.

Roxas gave her a strained chuckle and stood up with a bit of difficulty. "C'mon, I want you show you something. You've earned it." He left the station for the main road with Jexa following close behind.

Where he took her was the plaza. The number of shops and the clear evidence of people put her on edge.

"Are you sure we should be here Roxas?"

He grinned and waved her on. "Sure. I get sent here on missions all the time and I go to this part of Twilight Town at least once a day to get ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

"Yeah, sea salt ice cream." He put his hood up and visited the sweets shop where he exchanges some munny for three blue popsicles. "It's really good. Here, this one's for you."

Jexa gingerly took the blue treat. "Why did you get three?"

"One's for Axel. He's the one who started this, getting ice cream after missions and everything. Eat up, it's melting."

She wasn't too pleased that Axel was involved with this nice get together, but she wouldn't waste the ice cream when Roxas seemed so enamored with it. She took a bite and examined the flavors. "Really salty, and also really sweet, too." For some reason, it tasted familiar, although she never had it before. She took another bite and thought about the déjà vu, then it clicked when Cirix connected the pieces for her. He had tasted it before. She dropped the ice cream and ran for the underground tunnels. "I'm gonna throw up," she said, covering her mouth with both hands. Roxas called after her but she kept going and didn't look back. He thought about taking a detour through the tunnels to see if she was okay, but the ice cream was melting and he needed to bring Axel the third one.

Jexa wretched in a corner of the tunnels until the taste of the popsicle was gone from her mouth, his taste. The ice cream tasted like Vanitas, half of Ventus and leader of the Unversed. He had a heart completely comprised of darkness, made when Xehanort split him from Ven. Cirix provided her a picture of him and Ven, Vanitas a boy dressed in a suit like Riku's when he became dark and an appearance like an older version of a dark Sora with black hair, Ven a boy with semi-spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, and a glare like Sora's. Ven's resemblance to Roxas was striking and very curious.

Tell me more about Ven, she ordered Cirix.

Restricted, he rasped.

What in the world are you talking about?

Message from man: I know you must be wanting to know about one of the first brightest lights dearest, but now is not the time for you to know. First you must understand, then you may know, which in any case may be never. You may try to retrieve the information from other sources, but I will not assist you. Why you wish to know about this one, I do not know, nor do I want to learn. End message. He shook himself and curled up into a tight ball. Jexa opened a portal to Hollow Bastion, wondering why Nothing had kept the information hidden from her and how he had recorded a message in her darkness.

Zexion penned a few more notes before leaning back in his chair. His neck hurt after craning over the desk for so long as he recalled the memories from the days past. All were hazy, but a few were clear enough to notice the details. However, a few were not enough for the Cloaked Schemer, so he began to write what he remembered down, a trick he had learned to recover memories when he had been dropped on his head by Xigbar. They had been young Nobodies then, fresh to their power and lack of a heart. Xigbar had thought he had been acting when he started swearing and demanding to be put on the floor before he let go of his ankles. That had cost Zexion a month in the infirmary and Xigbar more than a few illusions. The corners of his mouth twitched as he thought of the amusement and pleasure seeing Xigbar flail in the middle of the Grey Area for no apparent reason to anyone else had brought him, both emotions products of his mind, of course.

He arched his back and stretched, causing a sharp pain to erupt in his side. Zexion gasped and clutched where it hurt, blinking a few times to shake the fog from his head. What had happened to cause this? He remembered Riku, that traitor, slicing through him and something else, a faint thought of something detaching inside him. Even that little bit of the latter sent shivers down his spine. What had happened? He unzipped the coat to find an awful red wound that had pieces of what looked like darkness in it. He paled at the sight of it, although he wondered as well. So that was what the dark Keyblade wielder could do to a person, or Nobody, as the case may be. A Nobody of him needed to be created as soon as possible. It would be his first task when he went back to the Organization. Speaking of which…

Jexa opened the door to find Zexion halfway through a portal. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked thoughtfully. "Are you going back to The Castle That-"

"-Never Was? Yes, I am. It is high time I returned. I should have left yesterday, but I decided to conduct some research of my own on this place before I left. Thank you for your help."

She chuckled and shut the door before going over to stand behind the portal. "Why do you think I kept you here instead of taking you back to the castle immediately?"

He paused. "Yes, I was wondering that," he said softly.

"Axel tried to kill you with the Riku Replica. I didn't want you back at the castle in such a weakened state, especially with your would-be murderer there. Truthfully, I didn't tell them you were still alive. Don't you remember? I told you earlier."

Zexion looked over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. "No, I don't remember, to be honest. Jexa, you may be new, but you must know you have a duty to the Organization, as well as the rest of the members. If Axel attempted to kill another member, then he must be eliminated. You should have told the others that I was still alive and of his treachery."

She tilted her head, a tiny, mock smile on her face. "As I understand it, the Organization's goal is to complete Kingdom Hearts and get hearts of their own. That means I have to make sure this goal is reached, since I am a part of the Organization. Am I right?"

"Yes," Zexion said, unsure of where she was going. His neck started to bug him again, so he shifted around.

Her smile grew by a fraction of an inch. "We need all the Nobodies we can get to accomplish this goal. So, I am going to save everyone I can from the Keyblade wielders. Isn't it obvious? Isn't this right?" In reality, she didn't care about the Kingdom Hearts goal, but she knew it would sound good to a loyal member like Zexion. She saved Zexion because she liked him, and now she thought she should save the rest of them, excluding Xemnas and Axel, Xemnas because he creeped her out so and Axel because he was a traitor.

"That is fine, but I am well enough to return and I am in no danger. Again, I thank you for your help." As he went back, in the portal, Jexa read the notes he had made on his desk and looked at the cover. She chuckled and waved it in the air.

"Zexion, I believe you are forgetting something."

He took the book from her and started back, but she put her hand on his shoulder and examined his stance to make sure he was all right. She couldn't tell, but it would be better to be safe than sorry. "Zexion, you're not well," she pushed, her tone urgent. "You're still injured. Your memory is incomplete, more than what you have implied. You need some time to recover." She moved her hand up to his neck. "That's okay, probably a little sore at times, but-"

Zexion jumped back out of her reach. "How do you know about that? How do you know about the extent of my state of mind?"

She shrugged, almost finding his confused state amusing. "You scream of something lost. Even though you're still in pain, you want to go back to the castle, where Axel might try to kill you again. You left the portal to grab your Lexicon, which you could have summoned. I think the best stuff that showed me the state of your memories were the notes inside that book of yours." She chuckled at the obvious answer Zexion missed.

He ran his fingers through his hair, showing his left eye for a moment. "Yes, I am missing the equivalent of a day's worth of memories, but I can find no reason to be concerned. They are coming back, piece by piece, and most will fall into place."

"You're not going to remember the moments you were unconscious."

"What are you suggesting this time?" he snapped.

How fun this was. "A trade. The memories you lack in return for you staying out of the Castle That Never Was." She paused. "And The World That Never Was as well."

Zexion drummed on his Lexicon as he thought about the offer. "Very well. You tell me what I need to know now and I'll stay out."

Jexa laughed, a hollow sound lacking any humor. "What do you take me for, an idiot? No, I'll give you an answer a day. That seems fair."

He shook his head. "At least three a day or no deal."

Jexa's lips tightened. "One a day or nothing."

"You can't keep me here."

"Sure I can," she said brightly.

He opened his Lexicon. "No, you can't." An illusion full of blinding colors that kept spinning and blending together covered the room. Zexion disappeared in the distraction. "You should have taken my offer," came his voice from nowhere in particular. "Now I will go back to the castle and tell them of your treachery."

"Treachery?" she asked, amused. Already she had control of her darkness and was searching for Zexion. She didn't dare close her eyes in case he figured out what she was doing, but the menagerie of colors were distracting. Concentration was nigh impossible. If there was no break in the swirling patterns, then she would never be able to find him.

"Yes, your treachery. You have tried to keep me here against my will, violating my rights as an elder member, and have failed to tell the Organization of what Axel tried to do. This makes you just as much as a traitor as he is and you will suffer the same punishment. You will be eliminated!"

"Hm. I wonder how you will accomplish this. Your memory is faulty and I doubt Axel will admit to the crime. I will not testify against him. And how have I wronged you? I have kept you here to heal."

The colors wavered and froze for a second, long enough for her to lock on to Zexion. She kept a blank expression and wormed her way in, little by little, as to not alarm Number VI.

"You are not going to dissuade me, and it is obvious that I will not be able to dissuade you. The question is: will you let me go or not?"

"I will not." He didn't know it yet, but he was already under her control. His darkness had trotted up to her when she found it and was sitting compliantly under her hand. She was letting him have his way until she decided that it was time to stop playing games. She felt a little bit like Luxord in this mentality, but that only added to the humor.

Meanwhile, Zexion was growing uneasy outside the illusion. He didn't have his usual advantage of his opponent not knowing what they were seeing was an illusion, although the one he created was rather crude and wouldn't have fooled Sora. He was about to replace it with a version of the room with a combat-worthy image of himself when a chill came over him. It had happened before, he was sure of it, and he knew he needed to remember. Along with the nagging at the back of his mind came the smell of the Heartless. Unless one was inside, he shouldn't have been able to detect them. After a quick scan he found none of the little beasts hiding in the shadows. One could be in another room, but that was unlikely. He pushed the idea away and continued on with the illusion. I'll replace this one with a new one in a moment, then I'll go back to the castle. She can play with it for a few minutes before I let it go. By that time I'll be back in the Organization and she will be unable to do anything about it, he thought contently. Let's see here-

"You said you had lost part of your memory. I wonder how much of it," Jexa stated, bringing Zexion back to the present.

"That is none of your concern," he said evenly as he began to shift one illusion into the other. The fake Zexion appeared in the colors, book open and all. "I see no other way to end this," he and the fake said simultaneously. The fake closed his Lexicon so there would be a reason as to why the colors disappeared before rushing her. Jexa chuckled, summoned her sword, and blocked his attack. For some reason, the real Zexion clenched and unclenched his fist, probably from anxiety, he reasoned. He returned his attention to the fight to see the fake back up and open his book again, releasing a flurry of pages that surrounded her and slashed at her face and coat. Again she laughed. Both Zexions, as the fake mirrored the real one, couldn't understand why she was finding the situation funny. She was being attacked by an older member and losing. There was nothing funny about that.

"Nice illusion Zexion," she yelled over the windstorm the pages were making. "If I didn't know better I would believe it."

"This is no illusion. This is reality," the two said, but she could only hear the fake. He increased the intensity of the flurry and opened a portal back to the castle. Illusion or not, discomfort was a good distraction.

Jexa began to fidget inside the cylinder of pages. Each move caused another page to cut her, but she knew it was fake, despite how much it hurt. Zexion was toying with her nerves. It didn't matter. What she saw in front of her was nothing more than another one of his tricks. She had compelled the Zexion in front of her to clench his fist to see if he really was who he said he was, and since he did not respond, he failed her test. The real Zexion was about to leave and she knew it. He had used his darkness to call up a portal. If he reached the castle, then everything she had worked for would unravel and die, including Zexion. She took in a deep breath and shoved her way through the paper. It didn't feel like she was making any headway, all she felt like she was getting was pain, but within two difficult steps she was out. Her cloak was ripped in several places and blood was streaming down her face and arms. Strength was leaving her and she was swaying on her feet, but there was a smile on her face. The fake Zexion looked absolutely shocked, a little bit of horror mixed in his features, and he shimmered. Standing by the wall behind her was the real one with a perfect replica of the shock the other was exhibiting. For that time she became a little stronger, the blood seemed less real, and the skin underneath the rips in her cloak was shaded with black.

"I did that," she panted. "Just to see the look on your face." With that she took control of him and dropped the illusion.

Zexion couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had remembered the thing he should have remembered ages ago and why the smell of Heartless had come up. The smell of Heartless had originated from the large amount of darkness present, made possible by her. Jexa could control others who had darkness in them, and since every heart contained darkness and Nobodies were very much involved in darkness, she could control anyone. In a moment of curiosity he wondered whether or not she could control Keyblade wielders, who were so pure of heart. He cleared it from his mind and focused on the problem at hand. The girl had a Xaldin-like determination, something he had not noticed the day he had trained her in skill. It would have been a hard trait to overlook, so he thought she developed the ability recently. What surprised him more was the fact that she had overcome physical pain in order to achieve her goal when she could have taken a Corridor out. It spoke of shortsightedness to him.

Jexa shuddered. She couldn't get the sensation of the pages ripping her skin out of her mind. They had been some pretty bad paper cuts, even if they were imaginary. "Zexion, I really don't know what I'm going to do with you," she said as she rubbed her arm. "That wasn't very nice." When she didn't get a reply she continued. "I could put you to sleep-" He became a little drowsy as well as panicked. "But I don't think that will work too well. C'mon, you've got to help me out here. You're the Cloaked Schemer. You have to know what to do."

He did. If their positions were reversed, he would bind her hands and feet and throw her in the darkest room he could find, hood down, so she couldn't portal away. If there was no light to compete with shadow, then there would be no shadow and no way to portal out. For good measure, he would have a Dusk guard her to make sure she couldn't escape, but he said nothing. No need to speak; he might say something careless and give her an idea.

She touched the scar on her face and sighed. "For a minute I thought this would be gone too. Oh well." Her face turned cold again. "Seriously, if you want to live, you can't go back. I'll bring you whatever you need, whatever news you want, just stay away, please."

"What is so wrong about my returning? It could only benefit the Organization."

She moved into the room on the left, the bedroom, and sat down in a chair. "Please, sit down on the bed," she said. She wasn't asking; it was an order and he had to obey it since he was still under her control. He moved in and sat down, tight-lipped and shooting daggers out of his eyes. It didn't affect her at all, but it satisfied him. She was in a chair with her arms crossed, acting very calm, just as a good little Nobody should. Despite the situation, he found he approved of her attitude.

"Zexion," she said after a pause. "Are you okay?"

"Hmph. Define 'okay'."

"I was wondering if you were in pain, if anything was bothering you, other than your Organization issues."

He rested his chin on his fist. He still had no control over his legs, but he could move his upper body. "I'm perfectly alright. My side hurts somewhat, but it's nothing."

Jexa stiffened. "Where?" He touched it gently and winced. It didn't seem like it should hurt that badly.

She stood up, pursing her lips and shifting her weight from foot to foot until she calmed. "Let me see," she said quietly.

"Why? I don't understand-"

In an instant all her patience vanished. "Just let me see!"

He unzipped his coat to show her the inflamed red area. She groaned and examined it. The little pieces had become larger in the short time they had been covered. "It wasn't that bad earlier," Zexion muttered. Jexa released her hold on him and took her glove off, dipping her hand in a shadow. She brought it back out covered in a thin layer of darkness. He flinched back when she tried to put her hand on the wound.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she grumbled, eyes still focused on the darkness pieces.

"How do I know that?"

With a straight face, she said, "I haven't hurt you yet. I've done nothing but help you." In a way, she had hurt him when she gave him to Nothing to extract the darkness, but she didn't see that as a bad thing in the long run.

Zexion gritted his teeth and looked away. "Fine."

She nodded and gently touched the area. Zexion hissed and gritted his teeth. Larxene might as well have jolted him when she was in a bad mood. Jexa ignored him and worked on pinning down the darkness. It fled from her, slipping out from her grasp and biting her when she got too close. Finally she was able to snag one.

Gotcha, she thought.

Go away, it said in a harsh, high-pitched whine. We must finish what our master has begun.

She was a little annoyed at its answer. I thought we smoothed this out earlier.

We reconsidered. Our master is more important to us than how much power he possesses. You are not superior in any way. We shall stay until this victim or our master is dead.

Such loyalty, she said dryly. She paused to review. Either Zexion died or Riku did. The obvious choice was Riku, but if he was strong enough to inflict a mortal wound on the Cloaked Schemer, she had no doubts that he would be able to kill her. She wouldn't be able to help anyone when she was dead. However, killing Riku wasn't out of the question. She could hire someone to assassinate him or wait for someone else to finish him off. In the mean time, she had to protect Zexion. Since his disease was darkness, maybe light was the cure. She removed her hand, to his relief, and discarded the shadow glove, replacing it with her regular one.

"I need you to lay in the sun every day," she told him. "And don't cover that up. If you can, sleep with the light on and the covers off. If it gets bad, I'll have to take it out again."

"What's bad?"

"When it covers the whole wound and you're in agony, but hopefully the light will prevent that from happening. Oh, you shouldn't use Corridors, just in case that causes it to grow faster. Got that?"

Zexion scowled and nodded. Just because he knew it was necessary didn't mean he had to like it. Jexa gave him an empty smile and opened a portal back to the castle.

"See ya Zexion," she said. "Anything you need before I go?"

"Yes," he said without any hesitation. "I need my disguise if I am going to live here."

"Okay, I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

"No. Today."

She raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You forgot the last time I asked you," Zexion explained. "I need it, else Saix will ridicule me when I return. Can you retrieve it today? Here." He threw her a key. "It's for my room. I want it back later, and lock the door on your way out."

She pocketed the key and said, "Sure," then left. Zexion stood up and went over to the window, his arm still out of his sleeve. He wasn't too concerned about his chest; Jexa said she had healed him once and could do it again. What troubled him was the fact that she now had access to his room. He hoped nothing would be missing or out of place when he returned.