And now for something completely different: Here we go, another chapter non-Daxtin centric. Some background type stuff. Enjoy. Or Else! Also, the guy in the last chapter could not possibly be Leon, as asked by Aliasfan, otherwise it would be a four to five hundred year old Leon. Geezer with a gunblade!


Chapter 10: The Thirteenth Order


The black cloaked figure walked into the castle, his quarry, slung over one shoulder, having long gone quiet and given up on resisting, instead only softly sobbing and leaving tears in the black cloth of his cloak. Ignoring this, he walked quietly down the hall. In the balcony above, another black cloaked figure watched momentarily before disappearing into the shadows.

The same man reappeared out of a dark portal in a room on the far side of the castle. Sweeping back his hood, he revealed a face of deathly pale complexion, his hair wispy strands of white that floated about his head in a medium length mane, wavering lightly as he moved. The only color on him was his icy blue eyes, thin, graceful slits, the two blue lines beneath them, and the little blue spherical gem set in his forehead. Sweeping forwards on light and agile feet, he approached the four that stood before him, bowing to the seated figure curtly.

"Yes, Lexyni? What is it?" asked the enthroned cloaked figure languidly, his deep voice flowing melodiously over the words in its own mysterious way. He was dark of skin, accenting his tawny amber eyes that shone like molten bronze. His silvery hair was long, locks of it hanging before each ear and much of it flowing down his back, the rest of it pulled up in a high pony tail to flow down his back again. Here and there a few strands hung over his high, proud forehead. He was shapely of face, graceful in it contours and features, and his body was of medium build, not overly muscled but not wiry or lean; trim was the word. A slight hint of a smile played on the edge of his perfectly formed lips.

"Superior, VII has returned, bearing the princess," reported the first man dutifully.

"I see. He knows what to do. You are dismissed," murmured the seated figure almost absently. Nodding, Lexyni, the Blinking Acrobat, disappeared in a swirl of darkness, leaving the four others to themselves.

"I despise that man, number VI," commented the figure beside him, sitting down on the stairs to the throne, idly playing on his sitar. His fingers idly plucked a series of notes before he turned the instrument and worked on tuning it.

"How can you? You, like I, have no heart, Xencarsse," replied the Superior. The musician merely grunted at this comment, running his hand down the neck of his weapon, his gloved fingers lightly caressing the crossed out name "Demyx" and more slowly tracing the letters of the name "Raescens".

"He's too shifty. Like a snake, he slides this way and that, never standing firm," continued the second member of the Organization calmly. "That's all I'm saying, Xatheron." Pausing in his cleaning, he ran a hand through his sea-green hair that was mostly short, except on the right where it curled down over his face, a mask that nearly covered all that side of his face. His soft blue-green eye that was visible flicked over to the other side of number I's throne, staring into the shadows. "What about you? Even if the Superior and I don't, you still have a heart. In fact, you really aren't anything else, are you?"

A woman of medium build and light skin stepped out the shadows. She was a little shorter than the musician, and a good portion shorter than the Superior. She had short, almost buzz-cut blonde hair. Her black cloak had been modified so that the neck stood up even with the hood down, covering the lower half of her face. Also, the right sleeve was removed, revealing a set of black tattoos of arrows and lines on her upper arm, similar to the spiked cross tattoo that surrounded her right eye. Numerous small gold earrings studded their way up both ears. Her eyes, black and sharp, stared harshly at Xencarsse, who merely stared back with calmness with a touch of interest. She said nothing in answer to his question.

"Don't be that way, Kyara," he said lightly. The woman continued to stare, remaining silent, as number III was wont to do. "Fine, then. How about you, Darian?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to the man that loomed behind him.

"As long as he serves our purpose, I could care less," growled the grizzled number IV. He stood nearly six and a half feet tall, making him an imposing figure, an image enhanced by the multitude of scars visible on his face and neck, one even crossing one eye and intersecting another that crossed his nose. His mouth was a short, grim line set in a field of black stubble that ranged all across his jaw, joining with his short black hair. His tall face had its eyes concealed behind dark round shades which hid any emotions he had other than anger or annoyance. He had a set of guns strapped to his back, each outfitted with scopes and the arced rounds of spikes from barrel to handle that characterized laser-arrow arms. Each one was successively longer, ranging from heavy handgun to rifle to sniper rifle. He was quiet and taciturn and, if not passionately, then solidly loyal to the Organization. Originally joining as a mercenary, he had proved himself in combat multiple times, earning the epitaph "the Longshot" for his miraculous seeming strikes from unbelievable distances.

Kyara, the Hidden Assassin, nodded her agreement with her fellow's assessment. Despite her status as a heart devoured by darkness, she was the very model of control, every move calculated. She talked rarely, and when she did speak, each word was carefully selected to convey the most meaning possible. She was not one to waste breath, or actions. Her loyalty to the Organization was unquestionable, given all her past skills, but emotionally, she showed no evidence to this.

Xencarsse, on the other hand, was fiercely loyal to it, or more specifically to Xatheron. Having grown up with him, he viewed the Superior as not just a leader, but as an older brother, a guide, and a mentor. Distrusting of others and his motives, he was calm and smooth, though surprisingly light-hearted in his own way, taking things in stride.

"So, how long before that boy shows up here?" he wondered aloud, strumming softly at his sitar, the strings twanging satisfyingly at his touch.

"He was with the princess, so probably not long," grumbled Darian,

"Then let us prepare a welcoming party. Alert XIII, so he might be ready for it," commanded Xatheron with a thin smile. Then he whispered, to no one in particular, "Come then. Come and see my Kingdom Hearts."


"What are you going to do with me?" pleaded Kairi as the man locked the door to the prison cell she had been thrown into.

"….you're bait," said her captor in his dispassionate voice, hollow and deep. "Through you, we control Kir."

"Kir?" she asked. "What do you want with him?"

"He is… the key. To everything," answered number VII. Turning, he left without a word, ignoring the princess's cries or questions.


"Hey, ladies," grinned the blonde boy, his piercing blue eyes smiling mischievously. "You're looking lovely this non-existent day. Especially you, Fuuen," he added with a smirk. The younger girl blushed at this, her face going red underneath the curtain of silky black hair that covered most of it.

"Hey, only I tease her," asserted Exeamine from where she sat. "I ought to kill you, you know that? Brat." The boy only laughed at this.

"Settle down children," murmured Maieri from the other side of the room where she sat, drawing intricate patterns of ice on a blank slate. She had long ago noticed that her faux body, constructed of darkness and her heart's desire, was much more responsive and graceful than her real body had ever been, and had since spent much of her time drawing many such frozen artworks that adorned the halls of the Castle of Naught until they eventually melted, despite their magically chilled surfaces. When that happened, she would take them down and patiently start again. Thus it was a never ending process that occupied much of the tall woman's time, though it never seemed futile or useless, as Exeamine saw it. It interested herself, and delighted Fuuen besides, so that was reason enough for the artworks.

Grinning, the boy waved and exited the room, leaving the three girls to themselves.

"He's such a brat," fumed Exeamine. "If he weren't a member, I'd kill him."

"H-he's not so bad," asserted Fuuen tentatively.

"Whatever. When Kingdom Hearts comes and we dump these saps in the gutter, I'm offing him first," muttered the blonde girl darkly. Her face lit up in a malicious grin as she contemplated the newest member's death in her imagination.


"Yare yare, are you two at it again?" murmured the tousle-haired spiky blonde as he came in. He was on the short side of medium height and of a lean build, but well muscled. His face was artfully curved, and his eyes were near slits along with his grinning mouth, giving him a fox-like appearance. He walked with a light and graceful air, a little bounce in his jaunt as he walked over to the other two men. He looked to be in his early twenties, if even that old, but his childish delight and exuberant energy made him seem much younger. "Whose move?"

"His," rumbled the larger man in a deep, booming voice. He had sedate, observant brown eyes set in a large, blocky face, thick boned with a cleft chin. His tawny brown hair was pulled back in straight locks down the back of his head, where they flowed out, ending at the base of his neck. He was clean-shaven and had a very heavy aura to him, giving him the deep and quiet feel of a philosopher, or a statue. His body was huge and muscled, standing easily over six and a half feet tall, and it was almost comical to see him hunched over the little crystal chessboard they had set up on the coffee table between the two couches. He didn't even look over as the younger man who had just came in flopped down on the couch next to him, though he did shove him back when the sly faced blonde leaned over and put his head nearly into the pieces as he inspected the game's situation.

"I think Roxtarit's got your number," said the observer with a grin.

"Quiet, Kensuke," replied the larger man with a slight hint of irritation.

"I'm just sayin', my money, if I had any, would be on him, Max," replied number V defensively.

"Maxinaeus," number IX corrected absently, his eyes intent on his opponent. The other man, Roxtarit, considered the board a moment more before seemingly arbitrarily picking a piece at random and waving it above the board indecisively before dropping it on a chosen square. "Interesting."

"I mean, he's totally attacking everything you got," continued Kensuke happily.

"Yes, and every piece is defended," countered the large man as he considered his options.

"Ah, yes, the Stoic Defender," mused the fox-like trickster. "You know, the best defense is a good offense. Blitzkrieg, yo!"

"You're the Lightning Lord, of course you think faster is better," grumbled Maxinaeus. "You have no patience." This said, he moved his bishop out, staying in safe distance of his other pieces but probing gently at the edges of Roxtarit's formation, forcing him to react or run.

The other man silently considered the move, his thoughts a mystery as his face was hidden by an oval white mask, painted over with tongues of stylized flame, the only holes two thin curving slits for his eyes. His red hair flared out behind him in long spikes that stood in the air and trailed down his back a little. He sat with the couch pulled close to the table, almost crouching on it, his thin, spidery arms leaning on his folded knees as he bent his wiry frame over the board, considering his next move momentarily before moving his knight away from the current danger.

"Now watch," said IX with a satisfied tone of voice, sliding his rook out and taking a lone pawn. With all the pieces in place, he watched smugly as his opponent predictably retaliated with his own rook, which next fell to one of Maxinaeus's knights, which in turn forced Roxtarit to retreat his queen out of the line of fire and off of the major battlefield to the other side of the board. Pressing his advantage, Maxinaeus then pressed forwards with his bishop, forking his opponent's remained rook and an unprotected pawn, which he took as the other man moved his rook out of the way. Giving no reaction as Roxtarit leapt out with his knight to take an inconsequential pawn, he continued with his preset plan, trading pieces and winning the occasional extra pawn, retreating as necessary, then attacking another part of the board. He smiled pleasantly as Roxtarit's pieces retreated from one attack and into another, and only continued to watch calmly his opponent failed to prevent easy attacks or foolishly took the offensive only to see for Maxinaeus to take the attacking pieces under full protection. Quickly, the black pieces disappeared from the board as the whites suffered only minor casualties. Despite this, Roxtarit gave no indication of nervousness or worry. In fact, as they went, his decisions came faster, he moved pieces more confidently, quickly with almost foolish haste into ridiculously defenseless positions and hopeless attacks.

Smiling, Maxinaeus shot his bishop forwards to take the lone remaining black rook, protected by both a knight and his queen. This would result in another series of traded pieces, the upshot being only the loss of the knight and bishop on his part and the loss of the rook, a knight, and a pawn on his opponents.

"Game over," said Kensuke with a wide smile.

"Exactly," said Maxinaeus, but Kensuke only chuckled and grinned wider at this.

Roxtarit picked up his knight to avenge his rook, moving it over to take the offending bishop. Then suddenly he changed directions and leapt the knight over a pawn in right into the middle of Maxinaeus's defenses. Staring incredulously, the larger man realized that not only was the piece immediately unassailable, but it was also attacking his King and Queen at the same time. A royal fork. Grimacing, Maxinaeus moved his king towards the knight, out of the corner and watched with irritation as the silent red head took his queen. He took only small pleasure in taking the offending knight with a rook.

Then, reaching back to his side of the board, where it sat almost untouched throughout all the game, Roxtarit picked up his queen and slid it down a miraculously clear path to come to rest right next to the white king. No other white piece was attacking the square the black queen now rested on, and the attacking piece was guarded by a neglected bishop that had been sitting in one corner, surrounded by pawns.

"Checkmate," stated Roxtarit simply. Getting up, he turned and left the room without a word while Maxinaeus stared at the board, trying to puzzle out how he could let this happen.

"How?" muttered the large man in a deep rumble. Tracing the game back, he found that what he had thought to be stupid moves on his opponent's part were actually calculated manipulations that pulled his pieces out of position, all over the sacrifices leading up to this final move.

"Hey, you're questioning the nobody who killed two people just because he wanted the number VIII?" laughed Kensuke. "I mean, come on. He's the Burning Enigma."


Maieri hung up her newest picture in the hallway outside Kensuke's room. Standing back, she viewed it with a subdued pride. The intricate design depicted a stylized girl in flowing robes with burning eyes, a scythe held in one hand, the other hand descending with flames and petals upon some poor terrorized victim that looked suspiciously like a certain young boy who had recently joined the Organization. Despite her usual opinion that the ice drawings were an exercise in futility, Exeamine found this one to her liking for some reason.

Imagine that.

Setting off to find the next melted tablet, she paused as she heard talking in Kensuke's room. Pausing outside his door, she listened as two voices talked, one Kensuke's, and the other vaguely familiar but unrecognizable.

"-oh, and you should have seen his face! That was perfect!" Kensuke speaking.

"I'm the best," said the unidentified speaker depreciatingly.

"Hey, I thought we agreed I'm the best," said Kensuke in aggressively.

"Yeah, the best at totally sucking," shot back the unknown voice. The two conversationalists burst out laughing at this, and shaking her head, Maieri continued on down the hall, not knowing what to make of it and not really caring.


"Hey," said Xencarsse casually, strumming lightly on his sitar as the boy passed. When the younger man stopped and looked over at him, he continued. "He's coming."

"I know. I can feel it," replied the dirty-blonde, his piercing blue eyes staring off down the hall at some object far away and unseen. "I'll be ready."

"Make sure you are," said the River Walker smoothly before disappearing into a dark portal.

"I will be," grinned Diant viciously.