DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR DISNEY this is purely fictional :)
The next morning came quickly and Vexell didn't get much sleep. The world was still dark just now the sky was more grey than black. Vexell had stared out the window the entire night watching the stormy clouds swirl above. She could have sworn all night that she could see large squirmy shadows with thousands of glowing circles rise up and tumble down as if peering into her window. However, it had been a few hours since she'd seen that.
With a defeated sigh Vexell sat up in bed, she rubbed her naked wrist again feeling the sensation of a bracelet in her mind. After changing into the new Organization coat she exited her room to find Roxas waiting outside.
"Am I late?" Vexell asked apologetically.
Roxas shook his head and gave her a very small smile ", No, right on time actually. Come on let me show you how to get to Twilight Town." Vexell followed him down the hallway noting every twist and turn he took. Until finally they arrived in the throne room again.
"Why are we here?" She asked, Roxas shut the door behind them.
"I'm going to show you how to summon a dark corridor" He explained taking his place in front of her. After what seemed like an eternity a small pathetic portal appeared in front of Vexell before quickly dispersing.
"Well that was a bust…" Vexell complained while she pushed back a sweaty purple curl. The amount of effort she put towards the portal had left her sweaty, shakey, and exhausted.
"It's not bad for 30 minutes." Roxas shrugged.
"It felt like a lot longer." Vexell shook her head.
"Come on we'll take my portal, and you need to practice." Roxas outstretched his arm and a portal easily.
"Tch." Vexell sucked her teeth and walked into the portal first after Roxas gestured. With a snort he followed close after her and the portal closed.
"Put your hood on, you never know who's going to be on the other side of this portal." Roxas ordered, she obliged.
Vexell looked around as they walked down a very narrow passage.
"For the record, Axel is going to be late." Roxas called from behind her. Vexell turned around but Roxas continued ", Axel is always late without fail." Roxas laughed, a true laugh, it was like windchimes and something about it stirred something deep in her mind...something like a memory. She couldn't grasp onto it, however, it seemed to drift through her finger tips like smoke when she tried to remember. She sighed in defeat and nodded at Roxas's anecdote, he regarded her with worry. She reminded him of himself when he first joined The Organization, a zombie. He didn't mention it as he saw the other door to the corridor come into view.
"That's our stop!" He exclaimed pointing forward at the dark portal.
"How do you know?" Vexell questioned.
"It feels like home." Roxas explained.
"Home?"
"Twilight Town is as much of a home as I've ever known. I couldn't forget it if I tried, I can feel the energy of Twilight Town radiating from that portal." Vexell chewed her bottom lip and looked forward again at the portal. "Once you actually see it you'll know what I mean by the energy."
Vexell cleared the portal first feeling the hot sun on her face as the coolness of the dark portal dissipated. Right behind her was Roxas who wore a genuine smile as he took in his surroundings.
"Come on I'll show you where I usually meet Axel. We can start trying to summon your weapon while we wait for him." Roxas led her to a tall clock tower and stopped at the base.
"Are we going inside?" Vexell asked.
"Tch, no. I want you to try to run up the building." Roxas clarified.
Vexell removed her hood so Roxas could see her face, "I'm sorry, you want me to what?"
Roxas smirked ", It's really not as crazy as it sounds, just try."
Vexell continued to look at Roxas as if he'd lost his mind, "Where do I start?"
Roxas shrugged and shook his head, "You wanna see me do it first?" She nodded in response and Roxas took off up the side of the tower. It was as if gravity had no dominion in this world, Vexell stared at him in awe. He began to jump and twirl as he ascended the tower walls.
'If he can make it look that easy I can too.' She thought with determination. Vexell took a deep breath in and set off, the second her foot hit the wall she felt the world shift. Up was no longer up and neither was down, she could feel the shift in gravity in her stomach. Racing up the side of the tower, she attempted to beat Roxas to the top but he simply had too long of a head start. She felt the wind rush past her face and saw Roxas glance down at her noticing that she had accomplished his task.
"That's it! You got it!" Roxas called to her as he jumped and reached the top, he flipped forward and landed flat on his feet. Just as his feet touched down Vexell reached the top, she felt herself jump as well but she over shot and soared into the sky. With a series of intricate twirls and flips she finally felt her feet make contact with the clock tower.
Roxas regarded her quickly masking how impressed he was, "Wow, that was something."
"I'm not sure how I did it, I just did." Vexell explained.
"You sure did, kiddo." Axel spoke startling both Roxas and Vexell.
"Late as usual," Roxas teased.
"I'm here, am I not?" Axel said with a bow.
"Vexell it's time to summon your weapon."
Several hours past sadly with no success and the sun began to set in Twilight Town.
Roxas and Axel had taken turns sparring with Vexell. They attempted to draw out her weapon in a fight but failed. Finally having enough Vexell pushed Roxas away from her with force, surprised he fell to the ground.
"Enough! This isn't working!" Vexell cried.
"Woah," Roxas said, glancing at Axel who was standing on the side lines resting. His keyblades rested on the ground by his hands before disappearing in a show of lights and stars.
"This is stupid, maybe I don't have a weapon! Maybe I'm just this." Vexell snapped, "Whatever I am, this isn't working."
"Woah is right, just calm down a minute." Axel offered stepping forward. "You need to focus."
Axel rested his gloves hand on Vexell's shoulder, "I am focusing!" Vexell growled, shoving his hand off her shoulder with force.
Axel took a step back putting his hands up in surrender. Roxas stood and dusted his knees off, "Axel's right Vexell, it's just a matter focusing."
"I have been focusing! Focusing on a way to stop getting my ass handed to me! It's not working and I'm done."
Roxas felt a pang of guilt, he remembered when Axel forced him to summon his keyblades for the first time. It was difficult and he was also beaten to a pulp by the end of it, but he was able to summon his keyblades the first day. "Look, maybe we should call it a day. We'll try again tomorrow." Roxas said softly.
Vexell huffed and crossed her arms facing away from the two, "What would it matter." She muttered under her breath.
Roxas raised his eyebrows hearing her, suddenly an idea hit him and he turned towards Axel. He mouthed something to him and faced Vexell ", stay here for a minute Shin we'll be right back."
"You're just gonna leave me up here?" Vexell frowned.
"You probably need a minute to cool down, hot head, but trust me it'll be worth it. Be right back we promise!" Axel said before jumping off the side of the tower, Roxas followed suit and offered Vexell a quick smile before he plummeted down to the ground. Vexell peered over the edge of the tower in astonishment as the two flipped before landing expertly on their feet. They dashed off further into town and out of sight. Vexell sighed and shifted so she sat on the edge of the tower with her feet dangling off.
"Today was awful," She muttered to herself as she stared at her hands. She couldn't understand how she could make an invisible weapon appear when she didn't know what it was supposed to look like or what it was supposed to do. While staring at her hands her right wrist caught her attention, suddenly it felt as wind was rushing past her and her vision turned to white. Slowly an image faded into view and she saw herself standing on green grass with the ocean behind her. She was arguing playfully with someone she couldn't see.
"Oh yeah! Well, if that's how you feel about it, let's spar!" She teased. Vexell watched herself raise her right arm into the air. Her memory focused on the bracelet; it was a somewhat thick metal cord with a charm she didn't recognize. It jingled and the next thing Vexell saw was herself attacking the person she was sparring with. She couldn't see the weapon but she knew that the bracelet had something to do with it. Just as suddenly as the memory came to her it disappeared in a poof of gold star dust.
"Hey earth to Vexell, ya there!?" Axel shouted at her, waving his hand in front of her face.
"Huh? Oh hey, you guys are back." Vexell commented feeling vaguely disoriented.
"Are you okay?" Roxas asked, it seemed odd that he had both his hands behind his back.
"Uh yeah, I was just daydreaming." Vexell lied.
"Oh well, I know you were feeling bad about not summoning your weapon." Roxas started looking quickly down at the ground bashfully. "So me and Axel thought you might need a pick-me-up." He revealed two blue ice creams from behind him.
"Sea-salt Ice Cream!" Axel exclaimed, taking a seat beside her and tasting his own which he was also hiding behind his back.
"Sea-salt?" Vexell repeated taking the extra one in Roxas's hand as he sat beside her as well.
"Yeah, try it! It's our favorite!" Roxas said with a smile.
Vexell stuck her tongue out cautiously before taking a quick lick. She shut her eyes tight ",Ack! It's salty!" The saltiness subsided and was replaced with ", but-"
"Sweet!" They all exclaimed at the same time. The three organization members laughed.
"The sunset is...really amazing." Vexell commented as she ate her ice cream happily.
"Yeah, I could never get tired of this!" Roxas grinned. Vexell took Roxas in, he seemed like a different person than she met the night before. He was so cold and angry but now he seemed sweet and passionate. Something stirred inside of her like the ghost of another memory but she shook her head quickly before she sighed sadly.
"What am I going to do if I never summon my weapon?" She asked.
"Oh don't think like that, it'll happen!" Axel exclaimed ", Even Demyx summoned a weapon and that guy is hopeless."
"Gee thanks." Vexell groaned.
"What I mean is that you're definitely way more capable than he is!" Axel backpedaled.
"How do you know, we just met." Vexell countered.
Roxas laughed and it sent an electrical pulse through Vexell's brain, like a memory was fighting to get her attention. She blinked it away and turned to the blonde keyblade wielder. "Trust me, it doesn't take Zexion to see that you're more capable than that guy!" He laughed.
"Who's that?" Vexell asked.
"He was a member of the organization, one of the top researchers." Roxas explained.
"What happened to him?" Vexell asked.
Suddenly both men fell silent until Roxas finally spoke ",I don't really know. All I know is he's gone."
"Oh I'm sorry for asking," Vexell mumbled.
"Don't be," Axel said with a smile, " We're nobodies, we don't have emotions. Whatever Zexion did to end up where he is, I'm sure was his fault."
"Anyways we should get back to the castle, we can try again tomorrow." Roxas said, he stood up and stretched. He folded his hands behind his head and grinned ",I'll think of something else aside from handing your ass to you."
"Har, Har very funny!" Vexell rolled her eyes and stood up, followed by Axel.
"I gotta get out of here, got a mission the big man wants completed." Axel said, pointing his thumb behind him. "I'll see you guys tomorrow at 10, got it memorized?"
Roxas snorted, "Sure do, but the question is do you 'got it memorized?!'"
"Yeah, yeah! When did you become a funny guy!" Axel teased with a laugh before disappearing through a dark corridor.
Vexell turned to Roxas who took his hands out from behind his head and shoved them in the pockets of his organization coat. "You wanna try summoning another portal?"
Vexell frowned, "Not really...but I will."
"Just concentrate and take your time, I'm not in a rush." Roxas replied softly.
Vexell sighed but complied, she closed her eyes and envisioned the throne room of the castle. It was as vivid as if she was standing right in the middle of the room
"That's it," Roxas whispered, his voice sounded as if he were right behind her. "Feel the darkness consume you." His voice resonated in her head, "Allow it to take you." His breath tickled her ear, Vexell outstretched her hand and heard a rushing noise, she opened her eyes to see a dark corridor open in front of her.
"D-did I do that?" She asked, astonished.
"Of course you did, I told you. All you need to do is focus!" Roxas said with a grin. He was definitely not as close to her as she thought but he was much closer than he was before she closed her eyes.
"What if it doesn't lead back to the castle?" She asked worriedly.
Roxas snorted ", I guess that is a possibility. If you're that worried, I'll go first. I'm sure you did fine." He stepped into the portal without hesitation. To his surprise the corridor was much shorter than the one he prepared. 'The only way that could happen is if-' He heard the sound of Vexell entering the portal, he turned to look at her. Her purple curls cascaded over her shoulders and her wide green eyes stared back at him. 'She's more powerful than Xemnas thinks…'
"What are you doing?" She questioned.
Roxas looked at her with surprise, "Wha- oh nothing! Just thinking about something!" He continued down the corridor exiting the otherside.
Roxas walked Vexell to her room but before she went in she stopped, "Roxas why did you join the Organization?"
Roxas was taken aback by her question, "Uh, we should go inside." Vexell nodded and Roxas shut the door behind him. "Xemnas found me in Twilight Town, he asked me if I wanted to know why I felt nothing. I wasn't about to turn him down, he gave me a reason to exist. But…" Roxas trailed off, he had walked towards her window. He looked out onto the World that Never Was and faltered, not sure if he wanted to share any more information with the strange new Organization Member. "You know what nevermind. You should get some sleep Vexell, it's going to be a hard training day tomorrow!"
Vexell smiled despite being disappointed that he didn't finish his story. "You're right, Roxas." She led him to the door, "Goodnight."
"Night Vex, see you in the morning!" Roxas replied.
Once the door shut completely Vexell moved to the window and looked down, she could see swarms of shadows swell and tumble over. The storm was still coming and had not subsided, the shadows seemed threatening yet she knew she needed to be where they were.
After some quiet contemplation Vexell was finally able to summon another dark corridor. It was as if she didn't have to think about a destination she already knew the area she wanted to be in. She strode down the dark narrow corridor once again. The walls seem to swell around her almost as if it were breathing. Vexell spotted the other portal door not too far ahead and she continued in a light jog. She exited the corridor and the world around her seemed darker than the one she was just in.
The wind roared and threw her purple hair around violently. With a frustrated grunt she gathered her hair and stuffed it into the hood of her Organization coat before throwing the hood over her head. Her eyes scanned her surroundings for her lost bracelet, she wasn't even sure if she would be able to find it. Without thinking she ran down the street towards the bright light cast by a skyscraper.
"Roxas," The deep voice of Xemnas sounded from behind him.
"Yes?" Roxas turned around to face the leader of Organization XIII.
"How did Vexell's training fare?" Xemnas asked.
"She was able to summon a dark corridor but not her weapon." Roxas reported. He felt resentment towards Xemnas. The man who seemed to hold all the answers was keeping secrets from him and the other members. He knew he wasn't the only one Xemnas must have been lying to.
"That's a shame, I assume you and Axel will continue her training?" Xemnas inquired, face expressionless.
Roxas nodded, fighting the glare that threatened to fall he tried to push thoughts of this mysterious Sora and his connection with Xion out of his mind. Every minute that ticked by made it more difficult for Roxas to remember her. She was fading away quicker and quicker and it was as if he had no control over it. Xemnas narrowed his eyes at Roxas and suddenly it was as if something shattered inside of him. Whoever he was thinking about minutes ago, he couldn't remember. He just remained with the thought 'I won't forget her.'
"Would you mind bringing this to our new member?" Xemnas asked smugly, he handed Roxas a potion. "I'm sure she could use it after a day of training." Roxas stared at the potion in his hand, his mind on trying to remember who he forgot.
"What? Oh! Yeah, sure. No problem." Roxas said.
He knocked three times on the newest member's door with no response. 'She couldn't be asleep yet.' Roxas thought. Gently he pushed the door open and gasped when he didn't see Vexell in the room. He dropped the potion and quickly ran down the hallway in search of her. 'Maybe she wanted to explore the castle.' In a heart beat Roxas had searched the entire castle with no luck. When he returned to Vexell's room he saw Axel standing at the door with the potion he dropped in his hand.
"What's going on?" Axel asked, gesturing to the open door and the potion.
"Vexell's gone." Roxas hissed as he entered the room and shut the door behind Axel.
"What do you mean, she's gone!? We're in charge of watching her! You know, making sure that DOESN'T happen!" Axel spat in a whisper.
"I know, I know! I don't know what happened. She's just go-" Roxas stopped mid-sentence. His gaze was fixed out the window of Vexell's room and down on the city. "What's going on down there?" He asked, catching Axel's attention. Axel joined him at the window and peered out. The heartless gathering on the ground seemed to have multiplied since the night they found Vexell.
"They seem pretty busy." Axel said, pressing his face onto the window.
"Yeah… you don't think she's out there do you?" Roxas asked, also pressing his face to the window.
"I hope not, that would be a really dumb move." Just as the words left Axel's mouth he saw the shadow of a hooded figure run out of an alleyway into the light cast by the last skyscraper in the middle of the city. He groaned, "Roxas…"
"I know come on," Roxas said as he threw his hood on and summoned his keyblades. Before waiting for Axel to catch up he ran through the dark corridor entrance.