A/N: The stay in Castle Oblivion continues in this chapter! Now that Sora is in this story, the final fight to decide who guides Sora's path will begin. This being Organization XIII, however, nothing is at it seems. Enjoy, my readers!

Scene 29: Clashing Wills

For a moment, Jason couldn't help but stare at Sora. Throughout his tenure in the Organization he had heard of the 'Keyblade Wielder', the one who had managed to defeat impossible odds and titanic Heartless.

Standing before Jason was this near-legendary figure: a small boy around the age of Hayner, Pence, and Olette, with spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes. Any chance that Jason would have taken Sora seriously was shattered when he noticed the kid was wearing a red jumpsuit and over-sized yellow shoes.

"So, Jason. Can you tell us what's up with this castle?" Sora asked.

"This is Castle Oblivion. It is a curious place. What do you know? What don't you know? This is the place where these questions are at the forefront." Something occurred to Jason. "So, why are you here, Sora?"

Sora put his hands behind his head, looking around. "Hmm… you know, I'm not sure."

"Wait, you don't even know why you're here?" Jason exclaimed.

"Hey, I know why I'm here! Just, not here, here…" Sora said, the last sentence trailing off. "I'm looking for someone."

"Could you tell me about this person? Maybe I've seen them around here," Jason offered.

The duck standing next to Sora looked up and spoke, in an odd voice like a quack. "Hey, are you sure about this, Sora? This guy looks pretty sketchy to me."

The boy seemed to consider Jason for a moment. "You know what? You're right, Donald!" Sora replied, to Jason's dismay. "If you really know where Riku is, you'll tell me right now."

"I didn't say I knew where he was. I said I might have seen him around here," Jason said quickly. "This is a big castle. Can you tell me what your friend looks like?"

"What do you think, Goofy?" Sora asked the dog-like man on his other side. "Should we tell this guy about Riku?"

"Hmm… I dunno. What I'd like to know is how this guy got to be in this castle," Goofy said. "This doesn't seem like a place where people live."

"You want to know why I'm in this castle?" That's a simple enough question to answer," Jason said, weighing his next words carefully. "I'm here to meet you, in fact. And help you, if you should you need it."

"That's very nice of you! If I do need your help, I'll be sure to ask," Sora said cheerfully. "For now, I've really got to find my friend!"

Before Jason could say anything more, Marluxia appeared in the room. "I'll take it from here." He opened a Dark Corridor. "Right now, you are needed elsewhere."

Were the consequences for Zexion's death already rearing their ugly head? Nodding, Jason put up his hood and walked through the Dark Corridor.

" Number Six is no more." Vexen said.

"So it would seem." The quiet tone Lexaeus used was belied by how his fists were trembling. "To think that the traitors would show their hand this soon."

"It was a sacrifice that had to be made," Vexen stated. "Once we report this to the Superior, he will give us permission to exterminate the traitors."

Lexaeus could remember when he trained the human, and how easily he had been knocked out. This time, if Lexaeus encountered the human while in this castle, the large Nobody would make sure to crush him so completely that no trace of him remained.

Of course, that was the plan for the human, Jason. A fate much worse awaited the traitorous members of the Organization.

A Dusk Nobody teleported into the room, and went up to Vexen. "What's this? You have a report?"

As Vexen listened to the report, he pursed his lips. "'An unknown entity has been located in the lower level of the castle'? What is the nature of this creature?"

Whatever the response of the Dusk was, it caused Vexen's eyes to widen. "That crest… it can't be! Clearly, this is something that I must investigate myself. Number Five, could you send a Dusk of the traitor's actions to the Superior?"

"Very well." Once Vexen warped out of the room, Lexaeus summoned his own Dusk Nobody. As much as he wanted to punish these crimes, now was not the time. Lexaeus had to be patient, and when the moment was right, everything would fall into place.

Jason warped into a room with an orb in the middle of it. Larxene was glaring into the orb, while Namine set in a chair holding her sketchpad to her chest. "What's going on?"

"You may have promised more than you could give, Jason," Larxene said, pointing at the orb.

Looking into it, the orb revealed a boy with long gray hair, who appeared to be somewhere else in Castle Oblivion. "For your information, this boy is the Riku that the Keyblade brat is looking for," Larxene explained. "He appeared by complete and total coincidence just now."

"Ah, you don't say." Jason could see what Larxene was driving at. Since Sora had mentioned he was looking for Riku, Jason had assumed that he was already here. Turns out that wasn't the case.

"So what were you planning to do if Sora really did decide to follow you?" Larxene asked. "Because the kid he's looking for is in the basement floors, and we can't go there right now."

"I'm guessing because the other members of Organization XIII here have found out about what happened to Zexion?" Jason could still see it in his mind's eye, with stark clarity: how Zexion's body slowly vanished from existence. Not even his weapon or his coat had been left behind- it was as if the young Nobody had never been there at all.

Chances were, that was a sight that Jason would see again during this coup, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Yes, this situation is already a complete mess." Larxene clenched her fists, and electricity danced between her fingers. "Don't make me regret deciding to bring you here. Because I will certainly make you regret everything if this blows up in your face!"

"Great. That's so lovely." Perhaps Jason wasn't in a position to deliver sarcasm, but at this point he was beyond caring. "Well, both Sora and Riku are here, even if they aren't on the same floor. We could use this."

"Oh? I'm listening," Larxene said, tapping her fingers impatiently on her arm. "Better make it good."

"We want Sora on our side, and we want him to keep traveling this castle," Jason said. "So why don't we tell him the truth? That the person he's looking for is, indeed, here. We don't have to say exactly where he is."

"I like it. You are really getting into the role of being a villain," Larxene said, smirking. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a Nobody, too."

"Maybe I'm becoming a villain, but I am still a human," Jason said, closing his eyes. "It will be that humanity that will get Sora on our side. I'll make sure of that."

"Ah ha ha! You really will do anything to get back home, won't you? Then I will leave this to you after all," Larxene said, pleased. "Though, for now, we have to be patient. Marluxia is having his fun. We'll get our turn later."

Jason considered Larxene's words. Yes, he had certainly gone to extremes he would not have previously thought himself capable of during his stay in the Organization. Not twenty minutes ago, he'd watched someone die.

"I'm so close. I am so very close," Jason said, speaking to no one in particular. "I just need to go a little further. So you don't need to worry about him."

Jason did not see that behind him, Namine was looking at him with a concerned expression. Whatever was on her mind, however, she couldn't find the courage to say.

Vexen warped into the basement floors of Castle Oblivion. Right now, their secret weapon against the traitors had finally arrived. The last thing he needed was for this mysterious new being to interfere with their plans.

If the Dusk's report was accurate, then this being was something that was not supposed to exist. Vexen needed to confirm it with his own eyes.

This particular basement floor seemed empty at first, but Vexen felt the presence of something else inside. "Whatever you are, come out at once! You are in the presence of Vexen, Number Four in Organization XIII!"

The presence in the room shifted, moving about in the walls, and Vexen could feel it studying him. Then, Vexen watched as a purple energy appeared and gathered in the center of the room.

Vexen summoned his shield, holding it in front of himself. Meanwhile, the purple energy was taking a humanoid shape. The mysterious being had a purple, veiny body, a black torn skirt, and most curiously of all, was wearing a pure white helmet that covered it's entire head. On the helmet was the crest of-

"The Unversed!" Vexen exclaimed. The name was from a time before Vexen had become a Nobody. While he had never seen these creatures personally, he recognized the crest on this being's helmet from the reports Vexen had studied so meticulously over the years.

"Impossible… Unversed aren't supposed to exist anymore!" Vexen said. "So what are you?"

The Unversed didn't respond at first. Instead, it approached Vexen, and seemed to be studying the Nobody.

"...No, you're not the one," the Unversed finally said. "But she is in here. She is in here somewhere. I must find her."

Then the Unversed turned around and walked away.

"Do not ignore me! I am talking to you!" Vexen shouted. He drew upon his ice powers, and tried to freeze the Unversed in place.

The very moment this happened, the Unversed took an incorporeal form, avoiding Vexen's attack completely. Then it climbed the walls, went into the ceiling, and vanished from the room completely.

"So this is the nature of our new intruder. For now, I will observe it," Vexen said, putting away his shield. "Should it interfere with Organization business, I will exterminate it."

While all of this was happening, the Organization members at the Castle That Never Was were being updated on the occurrences at Castle Oblivion. Saix received the report from Lexaeus's Dusk.

"So the traitors have made their move. Very well, you are dismissed." Once the Dusk teleported away, Saix turned to Axel. "I believe that there is no need to trouble the Superior with this. On his behalf, I hereby give you permission to deal with these rats."

"You got it, boss," Axel said. For a moment, his eyebrows furrowed, and he opened his mouth.

"And if there are other casualties in this mission, that is unavoidable," Saix said, talking over Axel. "But I will leave the specifics to your discretion. That will be all."

Saix left, and Axel shook his head. "I'm doing this for us, you know. You could at least show a little more appreciation."

At the same time, Axel knew that matters had just become… interesting, to say the least. Once he teleported into Castle Oblivion, the situation would likely go further downhill. More than anything, Axel wanted to talk with the human again.

If there was one thing that Jason knew Larxene hated, it was waiting. But as Larxene herself had said, all they could do was wait while Marluxia toyed with Sora.

So Jason at least did his best to talk with Larxene to keep her from getting too bored. As he was doing this, he kept an eye on the orb. Sora was making steady progress through the castle. Yet, something strange was happening to him…

"You've really gotten yourself into quite the sticky situation, haven't you?"

"That voice! Is that you, Axel?"

"You got it. Long time no see, kid," Axel said, having just warped into the room. "I see you've kept yourself busy."

"Axel! You're a sight for sore eyes," Larxene said. "What brings you to this dreary place?"

Axel's eyes quickly flicked to Larxene, then turned back towards Jason. "It seemed like you guys needed a helping hand. You've ruffled some important feathers."

"Oh? Do you have an idea who might be coming after us?" Jason asked.

"Let me tell you this. Your greatest enemy is the size of a brick wall and as cunning as a fox," Axel said, the words sending chills down Jason's spine. "You have some smarts yourself to make it this far, but if this certain someone corners you, it's over."

Axel was completely right. Lexaeus was likely planning a trap even now, and Jason wouldn't know until he walked into it. Then of course, if Lexaeus physically punched him, it would probably break every bone in his body.

"Oh, Jason at least knows better than to go up against a brick wall. Now, what he'll actually do, I'm greatly interested in seeing," Larxene said. "Especially after all the fuss that's happening right now."

"Fuss?" Jason looked into the orb again, and saw Sora facing off against someone- a gray-haired boy wearing a bizarre, red and black veiny outfit. Paying close attention, Jason could hear what was being said in the room.

"What is going on with you, Riku?!" Sora asked desperately, wielding his keyblade against the other boy.

Wait a second! That's Riku? I thought he was supposed to be in the basement floors. What is he doing on the upper half of Castle Oblivion?

This was yet another complication to add to the pile. Yet, Jason had a feeling that the situation was only beginning to get ugly…

A/N: On top of everything else, we now have a mysterious Unversed running around. This has been a climax a very long time in the making. But even then, this story is not over yet. See you next time! Please review.