Empty Heart

Chapter 14: The Traitor

"Simply amazing Roxas." Axel responded as he observed his former teammates fighting skills.

Roxas looked surprised at the sudden appearance of the red haired Nobody "Axel."

Showing his own display of surprise, Axel turned. "You really do remember me this time. I'm so FLATTERED!"

The flames spread in a circle Roxas could feel the heat of the flames.

"But you're too late!" Axel announced.

Roxas knew it was do or die and he didn't want to die. So, for the first time in a while, he drew out his full power. Then two of them fought, not because they wanted to, but because fate had deemed it so.

Lonely was the best word to describe the mood of the castle. Everyone else was on their missions, and Xemnas and Saix were off attending to their own matters. No actually, a form of company presented itself in the lesser Nobodies. But, they were not the talkative type. The silver husks apparently resigned themselves to only obey and serve their masters.

Xires often wondered what these creatures were like in their former lives. It was quite hard to picture them otherwise but being Nobodies, even lesser variety they too were once people. Then she remembered herself and was reminded even beasts had hearts. One query entered her mind. Were any of these creatures former residents of the park? The Heartless had claimed several creatures spawning more of their kind. It would have been amusing to have those Farthing Wood animals as Nobodies, the lesser kind preferably.

Then again, then they would be like the rest of the Organization, simply wanting to be whole. She didn't have time to question or debate over her own thoughts. She had been called.

"You wished to see me?" Xires asked as she materialized into the meeting place. As she expected, Saix and Xemnas were the only ones present.

Xemnas addressed his gaze to her. "Saix has located Axel."

"Axel!" Xires snarled at the mention of the traitor's name.

"It appeared the he has token refuge in Twilight Town. As expected of him. He's intent on turning Sora into a Heartless." Said Saix.

Xires knew this had to be serious for the Keyblade Master was proving quite the efficient heart harvester.

Again Xemnas focused his gaze upon the Nobody vixen. "Dealing with him is a secondary task among our goals but the Organization does not look fondly upon traitors."

A usual smirk appeared upon Xires's face. "So you want me to take care of him?"

"If you can. If you fail to eliminate him then it is of no major concern. His fate will be the same regardless." Saix stated.

Bowing her head to her Superior, Xires vanished.

Xemnas and Saix exchanged looks. They said nothing but their thoughts well conveyed to each other. Knowing what he had to do, Saix too vanished.

---

Twilight Town, a world situated in the Realm of In-Between. No matter what time of day, the sun always remained locked in place betwixt sunrise and sunset. Xires noted this as she stared at her birthplace.

While White Deer Park may have been Eris's place of birth, but Twilight Town was hers among the other higher Nobodies of Organization XIII. The entire town was painted in orange and yellow, a welcome change from the shades of white and silver of the castle. Xires didn't come to observe the sights she had a traitor to find. The town was large for herself to cover so she called forth the dusks.

"Seek him out." the high Nobody ordered. Before they took off, a raise of Xires's paw stopped them. "But don't engage him, I want that pleasure myself." The Nobodies flew off, their sinuous bodies twisting and turning in the air.

So too did she begin her search. She didn't want to seem lazy and let her underlings do all the labor. The streets held a lack of people. Xires assumed it must be their equivalent of the end of the day. Although she wondered how anyone could tell by the permanent state, the sky was in. Her answer came in the large clock tower. That loomed in the distance.

All the good for her, less people around would allow for easy exploration. A blue fox wearing a black coat would stand out like a sore thumb. Certainly, she hoped she would not run into that group of children that had prodded her, scratch that, if she ran into that one known as Seifer, she would bite him.

Finding nothing in her current location, she headed back to the only other place she could think of, the old mansion. Through the forest, she arrived at the gates. Yet she found no trace of the Nobody. Disappointment etched her. Seeing the grand manor before her brought back her memories, not as Eris but the day she first came into existence. It was as if the mansion had drawn her. Maybe if she had not come she wouldn't have joined the Organization, wouldn't have received a name, a meaning.

In the window, she caught a glimpse of something. It looked like a young girl in white, but before she could do any investigating, the girl was gone. Trick of the mind she supposed.

"Best get back to work." Xires reminded herself.

"Our liege." A mental voice spoke into her head. Xires turned to find the dusks floating towards her.

"You've found him?" She asked.

The Nobodies bowed. "Clock Tower." Was all they said.

---

The solitude of the room vanished as Saix returned. Xemnas had remained there motionlessly. Now his stance broke upon addressing his second in command.

"And?" Xemnas inquired.

Saix looked up. "As you suspected, it is a Heartless."

A nod came as a response to the answer. "It's not under our control is it?" The Superior asked.

"Could it be Maleficent?" Asked Saix.

"No it's acting on its own accord." Xemnas stated with certainty. He expected Maleficent to bide her time some more. That is if she even would attempt to return to power.

"It's her Heartless isn't it?" Saix suddenly had a mark of realization.

Xemnas kept his gaze forward never addressing the other Nobody. "Perhaps. It has been keeping to the area." Was his response.

---

Xires stepped out of the corridor of darkness. She didn't have time to take the normal route. Everything to the clock tower was uphill and she wanted to leave Axel any chance of escape. She had called the dusks off, their business done.

Suddenly the clock chimed but she was not startled one bit. With her eyes, she saw nothing. Her nose told otherwise.

"You might as well show yourself. I'll find you eventually." Xires called out to the open.

Nothing came, not even a retort or a taunt. Then her ears pricked up at the sound of boots hitting pavement.

"So they sent you huh?" A familiar voice asked.

Whirling around, the eyes of the vixen narrowed as she saw the one she had been searching.

"Axel!" She snarled.

The red haired Nobody smirked. "Xires isn't it?"

In flash of silver lights, Xires called her weapons to her. She pointed a single paw to her former team member. "In the name of the Organization, I hereby sentence you to death!" Xires declared.

Axel chuckled. "Well haven't you become an obedient little dog." He remarked. "Don't suppose we could talk this over?"

Xires flexed her claws out growling as she entered a battle stance. In a circle of flame, twin chakram appeared in Axels hands.

"Guess not." Suddenly he swung one of the chakrams at Xires. She was able to hold it back. "Spark flew as the steel grinded against her own. So focused on this, she failed to see Axel right beside her.

Mouth wide, she rolled out of the way scrambling to her feet. "She could feel several flames as Axel struck with his other chakram, throwing it like a yo-yo.

"Fast huh? Well let's see how you handle this!" Axel leapt to the vixen.

Both parried as their weapons struck in rapid succession. Both appeared evenly matched in speed. Whenever Axel struck, she did and vice versa. Both opponents backed off for the moment. Their steps mirrored each other.

Cockiness or self-assuredness marked Axel's lips.

"What are you so happy about?" Xires asked.

Axel didn't say anything. Chakrams to the sides, he began to spin them. Flames encircled but they did not burn. "You won't forget this!" Axel announced. Before Xires could blink, Axel flew, yes flew forward! The flames had propelled into huge columns and now he was heading right towards her.

The flames engulfed her completely. Seeing this, Axel smiled. "You got it memorized?" He mocked.

The grin faded when he noticed glint within the fire, a metallic glint. The fire died down to reveal none other than Xires. Her coat was left unsinged, figuring they must hold some form of flame retardant. Her body now was silver, steam smoking off it. Her eyes were the only thing that remained the same. She charged forward, her claws and ruff giving metallic chinks as she did.

Axel held his chakrams up front but Xires charged anyway. A wall of flame lit up between them. This didn't stop Xires. Her claws grew fiercer looking, attributed to her personal control over metal. Amidst the striking, Xires managed to get a good chest slash in. Axel reeled back in pain but he quickly composed himself, he to in order to survive this next round. The tips of Xires's claws head elongated. Axel turned to run but to his surprise, the metal snaked and followed. At his side, the other set of claw tips were doing the same.

Taking a chance he threw both of his chakrams toward Xires, Whirling with fire, they hit Xire right above her eyes. With her metal coat, it didn't cause pain but the blow was hard enough to momentarily distract her. The claws went limp like metal ropes and retracted back to their previous state.

The rest of the battle would involve more detail. The "Silver Streak" and the "The Flurry of Dancing Flames" kept their fight going on. If anyone in Twilight Town were outside, they would notice the flames and glints of metal. Soon they died down. The two Nobodies knelt down from exhaustions.

Axel was breathing heavily, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. Xires's tongue hung out as she panicked. Instantly, the metal coating of her body disappeared and her claws returned to their normal state.

"I see that without stamina your little shield goes out." Axel realized.

"What's it to you?" Xires spat.

Axel shrugged. "You know, you and I are pretty even I have to say."

Xires thought for a moment before admitting. "Agreed."

"We could probably keep this going all day but why waste our time?" Axel asked. The elder Nobody rose to his feet, calling away his weapons.

"Wait I'm not finished!" Xires beckoned.

Axel looked back at her. "There's no point in fighting anymore, were just wasting our strength."

Xires got to her feet, wobbling from the lost energy. "Why? Why are you trying to ruin all we have worked for? Don't you want to exist?"

Axel absorbed this list of questions. He had but one response. "I want to see Roxas again."

Xires looked confused. "Roxas?" She asked.

"Think about it. If Sora became a Heartless, Roxas would be reborn." said Axel.

Her mouth opened in disbelief and further confusion. "You betray the Organization for that?!"

Axel crossed his arms. "Roxas was the only one I liked."

A snarl crawled its way out of the vixen's throat. Then it slowed into a chuckle, which grew into laughter. Her laughter then stopped, not because it was finished, because she stopped it herself. "You're a fool you know that? Chasing after a false friendship."

Xires place a paw forcefully to her chest. "We're nothing but shells, leftover husks. We can't feel anything. Any emotions we have are nothing but memories.

"Did Saix tell you that?"

"It doesn't matter!" Her paw moved to the spot where her heart would be. "I'm tired of being incomplete. I want to feel not just recollect and pretend."

Her eyes opened wide intensifying. Axel couldn't tell exactly what she was trying to do, but he could have sworn with the way her eyes were twitching, she was trying to force herself to cry.

"You know it's funny. Roxas made me feel like I had a heart." A corridor of darkness opened behind him. "Two pieces of advice. One get out of the Organization while you can. With the track rate going now I doubt you'd last long."

Xires lowered her eyes. "And two?" Xires asked.

"You might want to tell the others I evaded you. Got it memorized?" He started to walk inside. But, he stopped at the sound of Xires's voice.

"The next time I see you I'll kill you." She threatened.

Another laugh came and although she could not see, a smirk. "If you can." With that, he was gone.

Xires summoned up her own corridor. Right before she left, she widened her eyes again and began to force. Yet no tears came. The vixen stepped inside the portal, and she too was gone.

---

The room was completely white, from the floor, to the ceiling, and the furniture. Adorned on the wall were several crayon drawings. The artist, a teenage girl in white dress with shoulder length blond hair, sat at the table busy with a new piece of art. Her name was Namine.

Such detail and attention she put into her drawings. Although not the best, she implemented her own style. Behind her, the corridor of darkness opened, and Axel stepped out.

"Another picture?" he asked.

Namine nodded. The red haired Nobody walked over. When he saw the drawing, he seemed to frown.

"You're having second thoughts aren't you?" Namine inquired.

Axel turned facing the window observing the view outside. "I don't know." He answered.

"I told Roxas Nobodies like him and me are only half a person. He didn't disappear, he became whole." Namine said a slight sense of reassurance in her voice.

Axel turned his head to her. "You really want to go through with it?"

The blond haired Nobody nodded. Finished she set down the crayon and looked at her art. It was of her and Kairi holding hands joining in wholeness.

---

Situated just outside White Deer Park, was a farm. To animals seeking food during harsh times, it was a source of good eats to steal. Yet at the same time, they risked death. That was the case one winter when a couple of blue foxes had tried to steal the farmer's chickens. His gun had made quick work of those thieves.

The farmer had bigger issues then a few chickens. Over the course of several days, his animals had just been disappearing, not just the small ones, but the larger ones as well. Strangely, there was no blood left over. This time he would make sure to catch and kill whatever it was.

Frightened clucks came form the outside.

"Must be foxes." He muttered as he grabbed his gun. With haste, he ran to the henhouse. The door was busted open. For am moment, several lights shone but he kept going. Stopping in front of the entrance, he raised his gun.

However, he didn't fire. Whatever this thing was, it was not a fox. Slowly it turned its head.

"Well, well I smell the heart of an Englishman."

The creature knocked the farmer to the ground his gun firing into the air. Instantly he felt a pulling from his chest. His eyes went wide as a heart shaped light materialized. That was the last thing he saw before his body vanished. The heart sank into the monsters inky black body becoming one with its being. Raising its head, it gave a howl of victory.