Saix gets the Intel from the Dusks that the imposter is back, someone who got hold on their uniform but is not part of the Organization. This time, this thorn in their side is skulking around Beast's Castle.
He reports this to Xemnas, and the man tells him in that bland voice:
"Send Xion to dispose of this person. If she is to perish, there isn't much of a loss."
Saix finds himself oddly enraged by this but hides it behind a calm façade. "As you wish." He replies and leaves to hand out the mission.
When giving Xion her mission, he feels inclined to warn her, "We do not know how strong this person is. Be on your guard, and… if you can't handle it, retreat." Xion nods and heads out. Saix can only hope Xion is up to the task, she is strong and the training has made her more focused, but she is not all-powerful. Saix sights, 'Lea's right I have gone soft on her...' He realizes and can almost laugh at the lunacy of the antisocial him is having a soft spot for a kid. Oh, if his old man could see him now...
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Xion returns late that day, having the bad news that this person defeated her. Saix can see that she seems more hurt mentally than physically, "Tell me what happened." He requests when sure no one is around, he prefers not to show this softness around the other members, as they most likely will lose any respect towards him. Only his friends are allowed to see that he's not as cold as most think he is.
Xion hesitates for a long time, the words of that male still torments her mind.
"Xion."
"He called my keyblade a sham." Xion finally tells Saix, she did not see that his eyes widened ever so slightly, more focused on the pain flooding her chest. "I'm sorry," Xion avoids his eyes, musing. "I couldn't defeat him."
Something tells him that this person Xion lost against can see what Xion truly is, not it matters much to Saix anymore. He does not consider Xion a replica of Sora's memories, for he does not see Sora in her, or in Roxas for that matter. All he can see is the girl he and Axel befriended back when they were at that age and human.
"Please, give me another chance." Xion begs, she wants to prove she can fulfill this mission. She can defeat the imposter and prove she's not a sham! Saix stares down to her, no sign of what's he's thinking. With that almost emotionless expression on his face and the calm gleam in his bluish eyes. His hand moves and it ends up on top of her head, only there he speaks: "Alright, but next time; you won't be alone." Xion is so relieved that Saix is willing to give her another chance and won't be surprised if it's Roxas, Axel, or even Saix who will accompany her to this next encounter. Knowing he does not fancy others sees him like this, Xion checks the surrounding, only with no one around, she hugs him. "Thanks Saix."
Caught off guard by that move, and never been good at showing his more tender side, not even when he was human. Saix awkwardly pats her head.
Unaware, a certain member is watching the two sharing that sweet moment from above. Xigbar's eye narrows ever so slightly at what he sees, then he snorts a small chuckle. It looks like Saix has gotten attached to poppet and turning him against them. Xigbar has taken notice of how the second-in-command seems to avoid meetings; like the strings have been cut. That's not good but… he quirks a smile, watching Saix push Xion away and becomes somewhat flustered at whatever she's saying. At least they still have a leash for their dog.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Standing on the castle gate of the Beast's Castle, a teenage boy, dressed in the Organization black cloak. He reaches his hand out, still able to feel that keyblade that girl wielded. It hadn't felt real, more like a copy. Hence to why he called it a sham. That girl… when he looked at her, he saw Kairi's face but… it wasn't Kairi.
A person in a dark grey bodysuit with blood-red markings around the chest, hands, and legs appears at his left, transparent and with darkness surrounding his shape. This fellow aged boy looks like his best friend, with the exception that the spiky hair is black, skin paler and eyes red. That and this boy of darkness cannot get that cheerful face Sora most of the time got plastered on; instead, his companion wears an expression that screams: 'I'm going to hurt you and enjoy while doing it.'
Though this time around, the boy of darkness looks pissed.
"What the hell was up with that thing?" The other boy asks, that and his outburst when Riku removed the hood on that girl, shows that his companion got just as startled as he did.
"What did you see?" He asks calmly while slowly fisting his hand, as if trying to grasp the keyblade.
"It looked like my deadbeat brother." His friend, Vanitas crosses his arms, the glare in those red eyes intensified. "It was fucking creepy to see him fight like my light twin and hear him speak with a female voice." He eyes him, asking a very legit question to this situation: "What the hell was up with that?"
"That's saying a lot when it comes from you." He remarks and hearing that they didn't see the same thing. It seems there's more to this… whatever she is.
"No shit, so, what now?" And like any other time when they encounter something Vanitas does not understand; "I suggest we hunt it down, gives it one less thing to worry about."
Riku is so used to the 'annihilate the problem away' that he now just brushes it off. "Let's first see what we're dealing with." He tells his dark companion and for that; Riku thinks he's going to pay another friend a visit. Knowing Vanitas thoughts about his second friend: "Now I will get information from our inside man." He knows the reaction will be amusing.
"Great, see you tomorrow." The dark boy remarks dryly and disappears.
He stand corrected, and rolling his eyes, Riku lets the darkness swallows him. When leaving the dark corridor, he is inside Hollow Bastion. A place that holds a lot of bad memories, but he has made better ones through his previous visits, all thanks to an unlikely but very appreciated friend of his. The castle does not have any Heartless inside, meaning the current resident has been busy.
Riku walks towards the library, knowing the one he's searching for will be— suddenly a large man, drops right beside him and Riku only manages to summon up his blade, which gets thrown out from his hand when that man slams a sort of ax right at him with a well-known strength. He yelps in pain and would've retaliated if not for the lack of darkness coming from the attacker. Instead, Riku jumps away from the man, one he recognizes from Castle Oblivion. What was the name again? Oh right. "You're Lexaeus's human, aren't you?" He asks. The man turns around to him and does not look happy to see him, not that Riku blames him. Last time they saw each other, Riku struck him down. "I'm not here to fight," Riku tells the former Nobody, pretty sure Lexaeus— or whatever he's named now, is human now, like the one he's looking for. Speaking of which: "I'm looking for Ienzo, he's still here, right?"
That caught the large man's attention. "How do you know about him?" He asks suspicious and for some reason tense up as if thinking he's a threat to the one he's looking for.
This confuses Riku, but before he can explain the man, Ienzo's voice calls from upstairs: "It's alright Aeleus, Riku is an ally." The large man dismisses his weapon but does still give him that dark stare. Riku casts the distrustful man a look as he passes him and walks upstairs to where Ienzo is. The young man walks over to him and by the looks of it, has finally found a lab coat at his size. "It's been a while Riku," Ienzo greets him and with a smirk asks, "how many trees have you walked into this time?"
Riku chuckles at the tease about the blindfold but does not answer the question. Like Ienzo, the younger boy is well aware it will just start a friendly spat between them. Aeleus frowns to why he is wearing a blindfold but does stay quiet about it. Ienzo understands why Riku has it and noticing the new returned man confused stares; Ienzo simply explains him: "Sometimes, it's too hard to look into the harsh truth." Aeleus lifts his head slightly, the eyes showing that he understands and fortunately, leaves it at that.
Riku is kinda glad some people understand the shame he feels for what he's currently doing. But enough about his own shame, Riku came here looking for answers. "I encountered something strange recently when the Organization sent one of the members after me; at first, I mistook it for a girl who could wield the keyblade." Ienzo crosses his arms but eyes gleaming that he has this one's full attention, the large man named Aeleus passes them, but does stick near like some sort of bodyguard. Riku casts that man a glance before walking closer to Ienzo as he has no wish in letting this other returned Nobody knows about the heart residing inside his. The next he speaks in a low voice, only meant for the spell caster's ears. "When I truly looked at her, that girl had Kairi's face and Vanitas described her face as his brother," Ienzo blinks at this, but that's not all. "and when I held her keyblade, it felt fake, a sham." Eyeing his older friend, one who knows so much more about the Organization than he ever will since Ienzo once was one of them. "Do you know anything about this?"
"Yes, it sounds like you have encountered one of Vexen's replicas," Ienzo replies, and muses thoughtfully mostly to himself. "but that replica wasn't supposed to gain a face, you shouldn't have seen Kairi's face— or any face other than a puppet. The replica should only have the power to wield the keyblade... for even a fake keyblade is still powerful."
That Riku can agree on, this replica's keyblade was almost as strong as a real one. "What do the Organization want with the keyblade?" Riku asks, he turns when Aeleus is the one who answers him: "The superior—" the large man stops himself, having a frown as if that superior really has betrayed his trust. "Xemnas told us all that only through Kingdom Hearts, we could regain our humanity."
"Sounds like your "superior" spewed out a lot of bullshit." Vanitas remarks, though only Riku can hear him, so Riku speaks those words— in his own manner to the two former Nobodies. "Clearly that's not the case."
Ienzo nods in agreement. He has a few theories as to why Xemnas wants keyblades. "Xemnas has always been interested in the power of hearts, but no one from the Organization has been able to wield a keyblade and collect hearts. Not before Roxas creation."
"Roxas?"
"Sora's Nobody"
Ah, so that's the name of his friend's Nobody. Riku nods and gestures for Ienzo to continue, which the young man does: "But when Sora was able to co-exist alongside his Nobody; something no one has ever done before— Xemnas must've realized the strength of Sora's heart and commanded a team to ensnare Sora in Castle Oblivion."
"So your Nobodies?..."
"No, we were sent to ensnare you." Aeleus replies from his spot, still staring suspiciously at him. "You have the darkness of Xemnas Heartless."
Okay, he can see why the Organization found him fascinating, probably more so now that he is using the power of darkness to protect Sora while his memory gets restored. But all of this does not explain why that replica looked like Kairi. "That girl— this replica, why does she look like Kairi if she was meant to copy Sora's keyblade?"
Ienzo hesitates with that answer, it's not because he is reluctant to answer, it's just… "I am uncertain why that's the case." He admits and rests his chin on his hand, musing to the blindfolded boy, "My Nobody never held much interest in Vexen's replica project. All I can say that Vexen had used a powerful memory from Sora as that replica's core."
And Riku has a bad feeling what memory that was: Kairi. It will explain why that replica has her face. "This Vexen, he was the one who created my replica?" Ienzo nods, yeah he thought that was the case. Riku still remembers that man who created his replica and since these two have returned as people. "Has he returned as human yet?"
This time Ienzo must shake his head, still sadden that there's no sign if Even will return. It worries him that perhaps; the injury his Nobody received was too great. "Unfortunately not, but we are hoping he will someday." Aeleus nods in agreement.
That's too bad, there are a few things he would've liked to ask the creator of the replicas, but what Ienzo was able to explain to him, it does help him understand what he is dealing with. Good thing these two former Nobodies have decided to ally themselves with him and his friends. "Thanks, this helped me a lot." Riku thanks Ienzo, feeling quite disturbed that the Organization has gotten themselves a replica that looks like Kairi. It was bad enough back when he had to fight a copy of himself, now he has to fight a copy of Kairi who fights like Sora.
He turns around to leave, but stops when Ienzo speaks up: "Before you go, I would like to teach you something." Riku turns to the young man, and Ienzo says: "It should help you against the stronger members of the Organization."
Aeleus frowns deeply in disapproval at Ienzo suggestion and feels like now is an excellent time to speak: "Are you certain about this?" Ienzo has explained to him how his Nobody died, why he is dealing with severe nightmares, which makes his magic act out in Ienzo's instinctual fight and flight moments. He does not want this boy around one he promised himself to protect, also... he's still sour about how Riku managed to kill his Nobody.
"We're one the same side and," Ienzo eyes the large man, one who has always been very understanding towards him, "I trust Riku." Aeleus frown did not fade the slightest but is at least not trying to stop him either. Ienzo sighs and after have asked Riku to follow, he tells the younger male in a quiet voice. "Forgive Aeleus, he's quite protective of me."
"I don't see why you need a bodyguard," Riku remarks, sure, Ienzo prefers to use his mind when it comes to conflicts, but that does not make him a weak fighter when it comes to it. Far from it, "you sure put my skills to the test."
"Flattered, but I haven't always been adept in spell casting." Ienzo smirks and explains the younger male. "Back in the day, Aeleus's Nobody often had to protect mine from danger when out on missions. Zexion," his smile drops and his eyes distant. "...didn't have a sense of when he was in danger." Ienzo does quickly shake those memories off, and when inside a room with better space, "Now, let's see how quickly you will learn this shield spell of mine." adding with a smirk to Riku. "With enough practice and magic, nothing can break through this barrier— as you clearly witness during the fight against my Nobody."
Oh, that shield spell. Yeah, does sounds like something he could defiantly could use. "Alright, tell me how to cast it." Riku replies to the other male who smirks in respond.
A return to the characters from Book 2 and Riku sure appreciate having people who can tell him of what is going on with the Organization. Also, I created a One-Shot story about Riku, Ienzo, Vanitas and Naminé and gives a small insight into why Ienzo knows about Vanitas. Did consider adding it to this story, but it just didn't flow with it, so I made it a separate story called "The Unlikely Group."
Check it out if you like, and comments are always appreciated.
