A/N: The romance in this story has been simmering in the background. Now, however, the time has come for this unconventional love story to come into focus. The bond between a Nobody and a human... see it take form. Enjoy, my readers!
Scene 19: A Small Spark
When Jason was little, he would sometimes go up to the gates of the abandoned mansion. The young boy would spend hours staring at the imposing building. Sometimes he would take his friends so they could all gossip about what might be inside, if anything at all. In the years growing up in Twilight Town, the cloud of mystery surrounding that mansion was a constant in Jason's life.
But now that he was currently living in the (no longer) abandoned mansion, Jason wished he could tell his younger self that the truth was beyond his wildest imagination. Of course, most of that came down to the other resident of the mansion, as well as its frequent visitors. Jason had no idea how long Namine had been living there, and she didn't really know either. However, the blonde girl's positive attitude was a much needed balm after a long day of work.
"I hope Sora has found his friends by now," Namine said, looking at the sketch of the brunet kid that she was currently drawing on her tablet. "He really cares about them."
"Do you know where he might be right now?" Jason asked curiously.
"Let me see… right now he's flying around a huge clock tower. It's not the one that's in this world, though." Despite this, Namine had a clear look of wonder on her face. It was infectious, as Jason began imagining what kind of world would have a clock tower like Twilight Town's, and what exactly she meant by 'flying'.
Unfortunately, moments like these never lasted long. A minute later Marluxia warped into the house, and Jason mentally prepared for the dirty business of planning a rebellion against the Organization. Namine, sensing the shift in mood, meekly turned towards Marluxia so she could hear what he had to say.
"I believe I may have found a suitable location to entertain the Keyblade Wielder," Marluxia said. "A curious castle that sits between the light and the darkness. The upper echelons of the Organization are also interested in this castle for reasons of their own."
"If that's true, it could mean crossing them if we're not careful," Jason warned, not liking the idea of taking such a risk.
"And? Surely you must understand that being a part of our scheme means that you will likely have to fight a member of the Organization," Marluxia said.
"I do recognize that fact. I'm just not sure if I'm prepared for it to happen so soon," Jason said, massaging his sore arm muscles. The longer he stayed employed with the Organization, the more complicated it would be to explain away his disappearance to the rest of Twilight Town. Even so, he still couldn't see a way out of this situation. He was too involved now. And that wasn't even the only issue on Jason's mind.
Almost as if on cue, Larxene warped into the mansion, appearing to be in a cheerful mood (or, as cheerful as was relative to Larxene). "You were right, Marluxia. Once we take control of that castle, we'll be able to get Keyblade Brat on our side. Of course, we all have important jobs to perform soon. Isn't that right, little one?"
Namine nodded, but still didn't say anything. This was the main reason that Jason was in charge of talking to her - the human was the only one she'd opened up to, and chances were Jason would have to do so again later today.
On that subject, Jason was hoping to be able to slip away to his room in the mansion while the two older Nobodies were busy with their scheming. Unfortunately, as soon as he took a step, Larxene turned her attention on him. Jason froze, feeling like a deer in a pair of headlights.
"You haven't said a word, Jason. Why did you decide to pull the zombie routine?" Larxene asked.
Before Jason could answer Marluxia cut in, saying, "The human is suddenly having doubts about our mission. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was considering giving up."
Jason glared at Marluxia, but the Nobody reacted to this by smirking. While Jason was doubtful, he wasn't ready to give up - but leave it to Marluxia to throw him under the tram without so much as a second thought.
"That doesn't seem like you at all," Larxene said in mock surprise. "What could you possibly have to be doubtful about? And it better be good."
"I don't remember saying anything about giving up," Jason said, sending Marluxia another glare, "But I'm certainly apprehensive. Marluxia is right to keep calling me human, and that means I need to be more careful than the rest of you."
Recently, Jason joined Demyx on a mission to the Olympus Coliseum, and Demyx complained as he usually did while they explored the dark tunnels. Then they got into a battle with one of those floating heartless with the floating hands…
"I couldn't do much against that heartless. But Demyx took out that instrument of his and started playing it," Jason said, seeing the scuffle in his mind. "And in just a few minutes, the heartless was dead. Someone as pathetic as him could take out something I couldn't with ease. And if that's the case, how am I supposed to take out Xigbar anytime soon?!"
For a few minutes Larxene studied Jason, her expression unreadable. Then, she suddenly burst out laughing, confusing Jason with her reaction. He looked to Namine and Marluxia, but they didn't seem to understand either.
"It's really gotta sting to be shown up by that loser! That at least I understand," Larxene said, stepping closer to Jason. Suddenly, Larxene was only a couple of inches in front of him, and Jason could feel his face reddening involuntary. "Listen, you can't seriously expect to take on a member of the Organization so soon. Your best asset is your healing ability anyways."
Larxene's voice dropped into a near seductive whisper. "If you're really so worried about your power, I could train you personally. That is, if you accept that I'm not going to go easy on you if I do."
Accepting the offer seemed like the worst idea in the world. Jason could even hear his shadow self yelling at him to turn it down, lest he meet a gruesome end. But Larxene's green eyes were mesmerizing. So without really thinking about it, Jason said, "Training with someone as powerful as you is sure to help me, so I'm glad to accept."
"Flattery isn't going to get you anywhere with me, and it's certainly not going to save you a beating," Larxene said, backing away. "But at least it's going to give me something to do later."
Marluxia was back to smirking, and Namine looked worried for Jason's sake. Jason himself didn't exactly know if he could explain his own actions. By all logical accounts, Larxene was the one Nobody ally he should be wariest of. Her words were honeyed poison, and she had no qualms about sticking a knife in you while wearing a smile. Even so...
A Dark Corridor opened in the mansion, and Saix's voice floated out of it: "Jason, Larxene. Please report to the Gray Room at once. You have a mission to complete."
Larxene rolled her eyes at the pronouncement, and Jason rolled his eyes as well and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. It was surprising, how it only took a second to fall back into their usual routine. Yes, that was probably for the best.
It turned out that today's mission was going to be to a brand new world that Jason had never been to before. The main attraction of the world was a large castle that appeared to be abandoned. The mission itself was a preliminary recon assignment. Jason was there in case the castle did happen to have residents, and Larxene was there in case there were strong Heartless wandering about the world.
Jason had to admit the castle looked imposing, piercing the night sky and crumbling in places. Could anything truly live in a place like this?
Well, it's my job to find out, he thought.
"I know this is a stupid question, but since this castle is supposed to be abandoned, could we just enter the front door?" Jason asked.
"At least you admit that's a stupid question. Even if there aren't any people living here, the same can't be said about the Heartless," Larxene said. "Although, you are here to talk with the natives. If I clear out all the Heartless first, that will make the job you're doing much easier."
"I'd appreciate that. I'll just put extra effort towards convincing the natives of our cause." Even as he said this, however, he couldn't help but grip his bo staff. If he didn't get stronger, he would never be ready to face Xigbar.
Larxene saw this and shook her head in an exasperated manner. "If you don't do your job, I will guarantee that you're going to be in a world of pain. So chew on that in that head of yours."
If there was anything that could be said about Larxene, one usually knew what she felt at any given moment.
Entering through the large front door of the Castle, they found themselves in a large, empty entrance hall, with various side rooms scattered at intervals and marked by closed doors. Jason's sense of curiosity made him itch to explore them, but first he studied his surroundings carefully.
"Not only are there several rooms on this floor alone, but there's a second level with even more rooms," he noted. "So it can be said that this place used to be densely inhabited. Those inhabitants don't seem to be around anymore, however."
"Yes, how very observant of you," Larxene said sarcastically. "Does that mean that we came all this way for nothing?"
"Believe me, that thought doesn't make me too happy either. I'll look around anyway, as a formality," Jason said. He picked a door at random, approached it and knocked. When he got no answer, he slowly opened the door and entered the room.
The moment Jason opened the door his eyes immediately widened. The bed in the room was neatly made, the furniture was clean, and most of all the fireplace was roaring with a large fire. These signs all pointed to one unmistakable conclusion.
"Did you find anything?" Larxene asked, coming up behind Jason.
"There are other people living in this house," Jason said, opening the door so that Larxene could see inside. "I'm guessing this is a guest room. Whoever normally stays here is out at the moment, so we should look around some more."
"As long as this is actually worth my time," Larxene said, turning away from the room. But as soon as she did, the Nobody immediately prepared her weapons. And Jason could hear what sounded like loud growling. When he turned around as well, he saw that it was coming from a large dog Heartless. The creature barked ferociously at the two intruders.
It lunged at them, causing them to leap back to avoid being bitten. Larxene sprung into action, strafing around the large Heartless and throwing her knives at it, which all crackled with electricity. The Heartless roared in pain, aiming at Larxene, but it was too slow to catch the Nobody.
In a split second, Jason came up with a plan to help take down the target. As the dog Heartless prepared to snap at Larxene, Jason fired off a Blizzard spell at it, causing the Heartless to turn its attention on Jason.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Larxene shouted, her eyes burning with anger.
"Distracting the dumb mutt so you can kill it faster," Jason said, with the usual grin on his face that he wore when he was scared out of his wits.
Larxene still didn't look very impressed, but she charged up a beam of lighting and shot it at the large dog Heartless. It stumbled from the blow, but soon recovered. The fight continued a few minutes like this, with Jason firing spells to divert its attention while Larxene got in its blind spots to strike.
Then as Jason prepared another spell, his head suddenly became fuzzy and his vision swam. "No, not this! Not now!" Jason shouted as he gripped his head. Larxene saw what was happening and threw a knife in Jason's direction. It stuck into the ground at his feet and shot out a bolt of lightning at Jason, shocking him into focus but not hurting him. "Thanks for that, Larxene!" Jason called out.
"Don't do that again!" she fired back. The fight picked back up, with the large dog weakening considerably as the teamwork between Jason and Larxene wore it down. Then in a desperate move, the Heartless barked at the top of its lungs. A shockwave emanated out from it. Jason, who had been keeping his distance, managed to avoid the blast.
But Larxene had been fighting it close quarters, and wasn't so lucky - the shockwave knocked her to the ground, and the dog Heartless took its chance to chomp down on one of her legs. It lifted her up in the air, then smacked her several times back onto the ground. When it released her, Larxene lay limp and unable to move, badly hurt.
"Larxene!" Without taking a second to think, Jason pointed his staff at the Nobody and shouted, "Cura!"
A large aura of healing cocooned around Larxene, bathing her entire body in green energy. In the next instant, her eyes snapped open, and she summoned all her knives in her hands, then cloaked them in lightning before descending on the dog Heartless, hitting everywhere she could reach. With a final cry, the Heartless vanished into a puff of black smoke.
There was a ringing silence at the abrupt end to the battle, and human and Nobody looked at each other. Then Larxene put on her usual scowl. "You almost got yourself killed, Jason. What do you think you're going to accomplish being so reckless?"
"I'm not sure what came over me. I wanted to help out in that battle in any way I could," Jason said. "Besides, without a giant bone to distract that mutt with, I wasn't sure what else to do."
That got a giggle out of Larxene. Then she started laughing harder and harder, until she couldn't stop laughing. Jason started laughing too, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. In the midst of their laughing fit Larxene clapped a hand around Jason's shoulder, and Jason found himself resting his head on the Nobody's shoulder.
It was said that Nobodies could not feel emotion. Yet that did not seem to stop the small spark from developing between the two of them, the spark that by all means should have been impossible.
A/N: The Heartless featured in this chapter is the "Bully Dog" from 358/2 days. The main reason I decided to reboot this story is because of the revelation concerning Nobodies in KH3D. And now we see that take full effect here. What happens from here? Tune in to find out. See you next time! Please review.