YAY SWEET COMPUTER ACCESS!!!
I managed to sneak onto a computer when no one was looking and got to type! Yay!!! As long as I don't get caught, I can get ahead and type more chapters! These will be up when I get back, or if I can get Internet access.
Okay, Chapter 26 time!
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Xed had a lot of preparation to do before going to Hollow Bastion.
After running around the Castle and telling Demyx, Xigbar, Vexen, and Axel (to, as she put it, "rub it in his face"), she went back down to the Weapons Workshop in the basement to start packing up the equipment.
Knock. Knock.
The girl stopped packing up a large compressing machine and looked up to see Xemnas standing in the doorway. He was wearing an expression of seriousness, but his eyes showed weariness. Xed smiled warmly at him.
"Hey, Xemnas." She said cheerfully, turning back around to continue boxing up equipment. She could hear Xemnas clearing his throat softly.
"Xedramon, before you leave, we need to talk." He stated, crossing his arms. Xed looked over her shoulder at him, but didn't turn around completely.
"About what?"
"Number XIII, sit down. There are rules that must be followed." The man said, walking into the room. Xed chuckled softly and turned around, sitting down on a table near her.
"Rules?" she repeated, rolling her eyes in an amused fashion. "Oh brother."
A smirk on The Superior's behalf, "If you wish to go to another world, then you must follow the rules I set for you." Xed thought for a moment, and nodded.
"Sounds fair." Xemnas nodded, and said,
"Firstly, I don't want you—"
"—Talking to strangers?" Number XIII finished for him, raising an eyebrow. The silver-haired man stared at her for a moment.
"Indeed…" he said slowly, giving her a strange look. "Secondly, I don't want you—"
"—To meddle in the affairs of the world?"
Xemnas narrowed his eyes at the child, annoyed by her amusement. She started laughing, which further annoyed him. Seeing his frustrated annoyance, Xed shook her head, putting her hands up in a defensive gesture, and tried to stop laughing.
"I'm sorry." She said through broken chuckles, her smile still wide. "I couldn't resist." She waved at him, encouraging him to continue. "I won't interrupt you this time."
Xemnas grunted, "Very well. Thirdly, you aren't to mention your relation to Organization XIII to anyone in Hollow Bastion, do you understand?"
Xed tilted her head to the side and asked, "Why?"
Xemnas thought, searching through his mind for the right words. "It's…hard to explain." He finally said. "For you see, in the eyes of other worlds, Organization XIII seems suspicious."
"Well, what'd ya' expect?" The 14th Key scoffed, tugging at her cloak. "We walk around in these dark things all day long, and live in a world that most likely no one knows about and has never heard of." An amused smile was faint on Xemnas' lips.
"Even so," he continued, "the inhabitants of Hollow Bastion may attempt to do you harm if they find out you're with Organization XIII, so I suggest you hide that as best as you can."
"But what about my cloak-thing?" She asked, pointing to the cloak on her. "Should I leave this here?"
"Yes." Xemnas clasped his hands behind his back slowly, standing up a little straighter.
"Anything else?"
"No, I believe I've covered everything."
A chuckle from Xed, "No, I think I've covered everything." She smiled. Xemnas frowned at her and walked out of the room, muttering something inaudible, sounding suspiciously like 'I need to get away from here'.
Chuckling to herself, Xed began packing once again. After finishing packing the compressing machine, she began packing up some Keyblade Keychains she had created.
"What's up, little dude?"
Xed turned around to greet the familiar voice—
—Only to come face-to-face with an upside-down head.
The girl let out a surprised yelp and stumbled back, tripping backwards over a short box with a loud, painful THUD.
Xigbar remained there on the ceiling, in silent shock over what had happened. Then, he let out a laugh, strong and overflowing with joyous amusement.
"God, Xed, you get scared easily!" he laughed, clutching his now-hurting stomach from laughing so hard. Xed growled from where she lay on the ground.
"A little help, please?" she muttered, obviously not amused by him. The Freeshooter portaled down from the ceiling to the floor before the fallen girl and, grabbing hold of her arm, pulled her to her feet in one quick, swift movement.
Brushing herself off, she said, "Thanks." Xigbar shrugged and gave her a smile. "I'll never get used to that."
Xigbar raised an eyebrow. "To what?"
"The whole upside-down thing you can do."
A chuckle, "Oh, that."
"Hey Xigbar, would you take me shopping?" Xed asked, with hopefulness in her eyes. Number II crossed his arms, giving her an amused and slightly confused look.
"What for?" he asked. Xed placed her hands on her hips, diverting her gaze up to the ceiling of the Workshop.
"Xemnas said I'm not supposed to wear my Organization coat around all the time." The girl noticed the further confused look Xigbar was giving her. With a small smile, she added in, "You know, at Hollow Bastion."
Her friend nodded, mouthing a silent "Oh…" He then smiled and shrugged. "Sure, why not? You have Munny?"
"Of course."
"Where'd you get it?"
"That's none of your business." Xed replied, a faintly devilish smile on her lips. Now it was Xigbar who placed his hands on his hips and leaned into her, obviously not pleased with her answer.
"Xeeeeeeed…" The way he stretched out her name indicated that he wanted a better answer. She rolled her eyes and sighed, shaking her head.
"I get Munny from fighting Heartless." She explained, a soft smile spreading on her face. "They drop it all the time." She suddenly looked very annoyed and very defensive, crossing her arms quickly and a frown replacing her smile. "You didn't think I stole it, did ya'?
"I dunno…" Xigbar scratched his chin thoughtfully, looking apprehensively at Number XIII. "I'm not sure if I can believe you or not…" A large, joking grin coming onto his face gave it away that he was only messing with her. Giving him a playful push, Xed said,
"Stop playing with me!" A smile came to her face once again, and there were hints of laughter in her words. Pushing her back and laughing, he said,
"Okay little dude, let's go." And with that, he opened a Corridor of Darkness, and the two stepped through.
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An hour or two later, a Dark portal opened up in the kitchen of The Castle That Never Was, with Number II stepping out. Vexen, who had bee sitting at the table enjoying a turkey sandwich looked up in mid-chew at the man.
Swallowing his bite, he greeted, "Good afternoon, Xigbar." He then looked around where Xigbar was standing, only seeing The Freeshooter himself and the still-open portal behind him. Number IV raised a curious eyebrow. "I heard you took Xedramon shopping for something. Where is she?"
Clearing his throat and stepping beside the portal, Xigbar said (in a cheesy announcer-type voice), "Introducing to you, ladies and gents, the new and improved—and looking fabulous, by the way—Xedramon, The 14th Key!!"
Xed stepped out of the portal, wearing her new clothes and a big smile. She was wearing a sleeveless pale rose-colored top, fringed at the top, with golden-yellow straps. The bottom of the top was cut in a triangle shape, showing off a part of her stomach. Her pants were a deep forest green, baggy with golden-yellow sections on the legs of the pants, towards the knees. She wore her same red and black shoes as before, and she kept her same two red and black belts wrapped loosely around her waist. On the upper part of her left arm she wore a red and black band (which, she had always worn before, although no one could see it due to her long-sleeved Organization cloak), and she wore the same red and black choker necklace as before, although the charm had changed from an 'X' to a 'T'.
Xed smiled wider and asked, "So, whatcha' think, Vexen?"
The man stared at her for a bit, before replying, "Well…I think you look very nice, Xedramon, but…" He pointed to her shirt, "Don't you think your shirt is a little…revealing?" The girl looked down at her shirt, but she couldn't find anything wrong with it. Xigbar waved Vexen off, smirking.
"Don't worry about him, kid." He said casually, a hint of chuckling behind his words. "He's from a generation where if you wear a T-shirt, it's considered indecent exposure.
Vexen narrowed his eyes in utmost annoyance at Number II. True, he came from a generation where children dressed more conservatively, but certainly not to the extent that which Xigbar claimed true. Number IV picked up his half-eaten sandwich and brought it to his lips. "I just don't find it very appropriate for someone your age." He took a bite from his sandwich, just as Xed smiled, with a tinge of sympathy in it.
"Sorry Vexen, but Xigbar's two ranks above you, and he was the one who helped me pick this out. So it stays!" Before The Academic could reply, Xed ran off upstairs with a smile, in search of Demyx, no doubt. Xigbar laughed heartedly, walking over to mouth-slightly-agape Vexen, and patted him on the shoulder.
"She's 15, dude. What'd ya expect?"
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The next morning, after convincing Demyx to give up about an hour of Sitar playing, he and Xed moved the boxed-up and packaged-together equipment, tools, and other items into an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Hollow Bastion that, surprisingly, Larxene had found. The woman had claimed that, 'If there's anything I could do to help the Twerp move as FAAARRR away from this Castle as possible, I'll do it', and she stayed true to her word (honestly, Xed wasn't sure whether to feel gracious, or insulted).
The warehouse was indeed 'old and abandoned'. Everything was covered in so much dust, that it came as a surprise to both Nobodies when, after wiping away some of the filth, it was discovered that the wooden floor was a light brown color instead of a dingy dark grey. There were a few windows that lined the walls, crusted over with dirt and grime. The door barely worked; it took both Demyx and Xed about 10 minutes to pull it open, and another 10 minutes to close it. The warehouse was vacant, save for three long (and surprisingly sturdy) tables, one tall shelf, and one dangerously unstable chair (as Demyx found out – A/N: XD). The air was thick and full with the musty smell of year-old dust. But all in all, the entire structure was very strong: the walls thick and the ceiling sturdy.
But Xed couldn't be more excited.
After all the stuff was moved, Number XIII said she could unpack by herself, and that Demyx could go back if he wanted to. Following a long argument between Xed and he (with the girl claiming she'd be fine on her own and the man claiming he should stay with her), The Nocturne was finally convinced to leave, saying he'd be back in a while to come bring her back to the Castle. Once he left, Xed sighed and turned back towards the warehouse.
She had a lot to get done…
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"Sweet place, Xed!"
Number XIII looked behind her, surprised to hear the familiar voice, and surprised to see two familiar faces. Wiping some sweat off of her forehead, the girl turned around fully; leaning against a table and radiating a warm, yet confused, smile.
Xedramon wasn't the only one who had changed with the passing of time.
As Xed grew older, so did her friends. Kuxir's and Xoras' birthdays had both passed, with Xoras becoming 15, like Xed, and Kuxir becoming 16. What once used to be that they all stood at similar heights had now become one thing that made them all seem different. Both boys had grown, Xoras becoming only a little taller than Xed while Kuxir became a lot taller than Xoras, about 3/4ths of a foot taller. Xoras' spiky light-blonde hair grew to be even spikier, adding to his height (but no by much). Kuxir's raven black hair grew longer, allowing his once short bangs to become long and wispy, hiding his empty bright amber eyes (Xoras had attempted to convince him to cut it, but Kuxir always refused). They continued to wear their Disorganization cloaks, white in color, but one could tell by their chests that they were becoming more 'manly', as Xoras would constantly put it.
And, although some things had changed, others hadn't…
Kuxir crossed his arms and sat down on a nearby table. "We stopped by The Castle That Never Was to see you." Xoras nodded, and smiled.
"Yea, we were gonna' go see if you wanted to hang out with us." He said. The blonde raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, a somewhat apologetic smile coming to his lips. "But when we got there, we ran into some scary woman outside and she told us you were here."
Xed couldn't help but chuckle at the mention of Larxene being 'scary'. Then again, it was true. "So, what do you think of it so far?" She out spread her arms, beckoning to the room in general. "I finally convinced Xemnas to let me have a Weapons Workshop out here in Hollow Bastion!"
Kuxir glanced around the room. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Looks like a fixer-upper to me."
A harsh glare on Xed's part. "Gee, thanks." The onyx-haired boy smirked in a friendly fashion, waving the girl off.
"Only kidding, but it's still sort of true."
"I've worked on it some." Xed referred to the now-clean windows, newly swept floors, and recently dusted room. Before her friends had arrived, she had just started unpacking some of the largest and heaviest machinery.
"Well, to be honest," Xoras started, eyeing Xed and smiling devilishly, "the best looking thing in this room is you." He clicked his tongue and gave Xed a wink. "Somebody better call God, 'cause an Angel's gone missing." The girl rolled her eyes, but nevertheless smiled. He looked over at Kuxir who had been staring at Xed out of the corner of his eye. With a smirk, Xoras asked, "Kuxir, whatcha think about Xed?"
The older teen frowned at his Heartless companion, turning his head quickly away.
"She looks nice."
Xed smiled. Xoras laughed, knowing that Kuxir was trying to hide a VERY obvious blush. He considered coming up with a way to get his friend to feel even more embarrassed, but thought better of it.
He had to sleep that night, after all.
"Hey, Xed, you busy?" The blonde Heartless snapped his attention back to the girl before him. Number XIII only raised an eyebrow at him.
"What do you think, Xoras?" she replied, sarcasm dripping heavily from her words. The boy rolled his eyes and said,
"Well, take a break."
"Do you not see all the work I have to get done before I have to go back?" Xed asked, her voice cracking and sounding a tad exasperated. Xoras crossed his arms and pouted a little.
"C'mon, we wanna show you this place we found!"
"We come here often when we're not on missions or doing anything else." Kuxir said, getting up from his seat on the table and striding over towards the two. "Now that you are going to be coming here, we can sort of make it a hang-out spot." Xoras nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
Xed sighed, realizing that she had lost this fight.
She would end up going with them.
"Will this take very long?"
The Heartless shook their heads.
With an inward sigh, Xed replied, "Okay."
Kuxir and Xoras exchanged smiles. The younger of the Heartless stepped behind her, and covered her hazy eyes with her hands.
"It's a surprise, so you can't see it yet." Kuxir explained quickly, before their friend could ask or retaliate. Shaking her head slightly, Xed smiled. Kuxir opened up a white portal behind him, and took Xed's hand in his. He smiled inwardly at the cool softness of it. Carefully, and with Xoras still following (and still obstructing her vision), the oldest teen led all three of them into the white Darkness that awaited them.
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"Step this way, Xed."
"Fi—woah! Woah, there's nothing over there to step on…"
"Step over here, Xed, not over there!"
"Wow. Very specific, Xoras."
"Whatever. We're almost there! The view's amazing!"
"I sure hope so. Are we high up?"
"You could say that…"
"…Kuxir, why are we high up?"
"Hold on Xed…one more step…and…okay, you can look now."
Xoras removed his hands from Xed's face, and the girl opened her eyes and looked out.
The sight was simply breathtaking.
She was high up, as she could tell by the chill and silent of the air around them. If she looked straight out, she saw absolutely no buildings or houses, only the swirling array of clouds, tainted by the oranges, reds, pinks, purples, and yellows of the sunset. Is she looked down, she could see many houses and structures, some broken down and in rambles, others standing proud and tall. Black and white blobs that Xed could identify as Heartless and Nobodies danced fluidly around, minding their own business.
Xed was breathless. "Where…where are we?"
Kuxir smiled, and said, "We're at the top of the old Castle in the middle of Hollow Bastion." He looked out to the skies before the trio. "It used to be overrun by Heartless and in control of some crazy witch named Maleficent, but now it's just a haven in ruins for wild Heartless and Nobodies." Xoras nodded, looking out to the skies as well.
"They won't bother us here, though, since we can control the Heartless and you can control the Nobodies and…" The blonde trailed off, noticing out of the corner of his eye the distant look in Xed's. He turned towards her. "Xed?" The girl shook her head, never taking her eyes off the scene before her.
"I'm glad I came with you guys." She said quietly, almost in a whisper. Xoras smiled and turned back to look. He knew Kuxir was smiling too.
"This is amazing."
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This chapter probably too the LONGEST time to write, but it came out nicely, I think. Nothing really happened, but still +VERY+ important later. I also hope ya'll are seeing something happening here +winkhintnudgecoughpoke+
Oh, since it's been a while since we had a poll, why not have one for this chapter, eh?
WHO DO YOU LIKE BETTER?
1) Xoras
Or
2) Kuxir
This is in all categories! Like: Hotness/Cuteness, Personality, Character, Given Info, Looks, etc.
Okay, now for Chapter 27 Preview:
"Xedramon, what are you doing?"
"I'm looking for some books about a guy named Ansem."
Ansem? Ansem the Wise???
"Xemnas, this is serious. What are we going to do? The girl's become curious about him and won't stop asking questions!"
"Destroy these. She must never find out about him."
He looked down at the books in his hand, running his fingers over the tomes.
This was everything. Everything they had worked towards. They gave up everything for this research.
But whom should he betray?
His Superior? Or Xedramon?
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The next chapter is a good one! And, it's directly linked with SOBD!
Okay, night peoples+Zzzzz…+
EDIT: I'm back!!! We ended up going to New Jersey for Thanksgiving, and my family just got back like an hour ago. AND I'M SO TIRED IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY. +passes out+