Chapter Twenty Four: Command

Nobodies had no dreams.

Oh they certainly could have aspirations and desires. Things that they wished to possess. But to touch the world of slumber? For the heart to wander and dwell on what mattered to it while asleep? Naminé knew that was impossible. And yet on so many nights, she found herself trying to run from the dark with Ventus. Seeking shelter when they could from the shadows.

Maybe it was due to Naminé's existence. An impossibility in itself. With a heart of pure light, a heartless could never be created from Kairi. Yet when Sora released the hearts within him with that keyblade, somehow she was created from some splintered will from the princess of heart. And if Kairi's heart being released from Sora could create herself, then it only made sense that Ven's released heart could create something like a nobody too. Even if his body was far away in Castle Oblivion.

Was the same true for Sora? Did he create a Nobody, or something close?

Well right now, none of that mattered. What mattered was that hidden from everyone was a sliver of existence that used that new body to live again. A dark keyblade wielder that made Riku's fall look tame in comparison. The one that menaced Ven and his friends so long ago...

"Vanitas!?" She cried out as she used another figment to block his keyblade wreathed in shadow. The blow shattered the construct and knocked her back.

"Well, well." Vanitas raised a hand and gathered a ball of flame. "Looks like Ventus got enough of a backbone to spill his guts." He shot the projectile and vanished, reappearing a moment later to shoot another as Ventus blocked it. "Not that it matters." This time, Naminé was the one who had to defend, she reached for her weapon.

He conspicuously absent weapon. "My sword?!" In her shock she fumbled for a card, but the fireball was faster, and soon she was knocked back.

Vanitas chuckled as Ven moved to block the rest of the barrage. "Funny thing about dreams. You only take what you fall asleep with." In a blink, Vanitas appeared right next to her, snarling, "So all you've got now are cheap card tricks!"

This time she was ready with a card to block the attack. In a flash, her figment was ready to parry Vanitas' magic. And in that opening, Ven rolled over to deliver a kick into his side. Seeing Vanitas stumble back, Ven began to slash away at him again and again. Blow after blow hit him until he finally lost his balance.

But then Vanitas' body froze mid fall. And Ventus stopped his attack in wide eyed recognition.

"Too slow!"

That was Ven's only warning before Vanitas appeared behind him, the dark decoy fading. Their keyblades clashed for an instant, before Vanitas used the impact to flip back and send out an arc of lightning. Rolling back, Ventus called out. "Vanitas, listen! You don't need to do this!"

"You really think you can stop me with words?" Though Naminé tried to approach from the side, Vanitas simply sent out a pool of shadow to become a larger Unversed to block her way. "You're forgetting I want this!" With that, he dived towards the ground, into a pool of shadow.

Ventus backed away, and turned to attack the bruiser swinging at Naminé. "You don't need to live your life in darkness!" As the unversed turned to face it's new attacker Ven and Naminé both moved to strike. With figment and keyblade, the dark monster fell.

"What I am is darkness!" But with his proclamation Vanitas erupted from the ground fire cascading all around him. Naminé frantically tried to evade the barrage along with Ventus. Though as Vanitas reached the peak of his jump he vanished, only to reappear to bring his blade down on Ventus.

Ventus jumped back, and as Vanitas landed and lunged forward he blocked with his keyblade. "How can you be sure of that if all you do is stay here?" Ventus cried out in the clash, "You'll never know the truth unless you look for it yourself!"

Vanitas' eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, steel screeching as they stared each other down. "You..."

"YOU!"

Ventus' and Vanitas' eyes both widened at the voice, and Naminé looked up towards where the shout came from. A blue haired woman leaping down from one of the cliffs towards the duo. But her eyes were trained on only one person. "VANITAS!" At hearing his name, the helmeted boy leapt away from Ventus. Just in time to avoid the combatant's barrage of ice from her weapon.

No...her keyblade. As different as it was from Ven's or Sora's Naminé knew what the woman held was another of those legendary weapons.

"Ven! Stay close to me!" With a wave of her keyblade, the woman began to conjure a sphere of water. With a thrust, she cast the torrent forward.

Vanitas backed away frantically waving his hand to create unversed to block the barrage of magic. "Yeah. Not sticking around for this!" Using the opening his creations had given him, Vanitas dove into a dark portal.

The woman scowled at the escape. But as she began to take a step forward, she stumbled down to her knee. Ven rushed to her side to catch her as she used her keyblade to steady herself."Aqua, are you alright?"

"Aqua?" Was this one of Ven's friends that he talked about? Either way, it was clear she wasn't in the best shape. "Let me help you up." Naminé ran up to Aqua's side, and though she was smaller she was able to use Aqua's keyblade to help prop her up.

"Yes." Aqua answered with a nod as she slowly rose to her feet."Just tired. I don't know how long I can keep doing this." She shook her head as she tried to walk towards the cliff for support. "For all I know, I could be asleep already if I'm imagining all of you."

Ven gave a small smile, "Dream or not, it's nice to see you again Aqua." But as he said it, he began to flicker just a bit. And Naminé's view of the dark world began to dim as well.

Seeing them caused Aqua's expression to become more weary. She looked over to her and asked. "You're helping Ven. Who are you?"

Ven had already begun to fade from view, and as the dark world around her faded away she answered, "My name is Naminé."

Aqua gave a weary smile as she vanished from sight.

"Naminé. Please take care of him."

Aqua's request lingered as Naminé awoke in her room in Hollow Bastion.

Once again, Aqua was alone in the dark. Ventus and his friend had vanished into the void. But even so, the connection hadn't quite faded. As her fingers entwined with her wayfinder, she could tell the link she once held with Ventus had been reforged, ever so slightly. And there was a new one. One forged with the girl accompanying Ven, Naminé.

The one who held her keyblade, if only for a moment.

"In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking…"

She had not passed on her keyblade formally, and part of Aqua wondered if she ever would. Even so, stories and tales of keyblade wielders passing on their weapon from a simple touch were in the back of her mind.

"...so long as you champion the ones you love."

Maybe Naminé would have better luck than Aqua did in keeping her friends safe.

Vanitas sat far from where Aqua had interrupted him, legs dangling off the edge of a gnarled cliff. He ran a hand over the smooth surface of his helmet. Ventus' words running through his mind. "The truth, huh?" He really had some nerve to throw that back at him. That was always little Ventus' problem. Never knew when to stand and fight, and when to sit down and shut up.

But there was one thing Vanitas was willing to concede. "Maybe I have been here too long." Standing up, he conjured a portal of darkness and began to trek outside of the realm he called home these last few weeks.

"At the very least. I'm going to make sure he knows I'm real."

Not to mention he wouldn't have to listen to the old man anymore.

For Larxene, the one major upside of the Castle Oblivion assignment was the relative peace and quiet. Especially from the Organization's command. While yes, it made organizing a coup much easier, it was mostly because she couldn't stand having to answer to anyone but herself.

But if she wanted to have any chance of walking away tonight, she needed to set that aside. Because Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx wanted her to talk. The superior of the organization looked down on her from his throne. "Explain your actions today. Because of you, Maleficent slipped through our fingers."

How fortunate then, that she did have an explanation. "I kept Naminé in check so she didn't get too dangerous."

Xigbar rolled his eye, unimpressed. "As if! So what if she gets more cards for her deck? That's why we train and have an army of Nobodies."

Larxene crossed her arms. "I'm not talking about combat or magic. The moment she realizes what kind of power she can tap into, the more problems we'll have." It was one of the main reasons she made sure Naminé learned respect, after all. The other of course being entertainment.

Xemnas' eyes narrowed at her. "Elaborate."

"She has power over Sora's memories, and the people that met him." That was the gist of the report she and Marluxia sent when they first found Naminé. But there was always one possibility that they wondered about. One that was a threat that they could not ignore. "How long before she figures out how to control the memories of people who have heard of him?"

Because if she could begin to manipulate such a power, and decided to turn it against the organization? Everything they had worked for would be nearly worthless. They could barely trust their own notes, even if they realized something was wrong. Far better then, that the witch be kept in line.

Xemnas nodded at her answer with closed eyes. "You are shrewd in your judgement Larxene." Though any sense of calm was erased by the pointed glare he gave her. "But if you cause problems for the organization again, you will cease to be a part of it."

She paused before answering. "Point taken." But she wasn't a fool. Right now, she was on probation. And what's more, she was positive that Xemnas was onto her.

Though if anyone else in the council chamber cared, they didn't show it. Xigbar went on to ask, "You think the C.O. team is having a better time?"

Well, if they were just going to go on, might as well listen in. Saïx answered calmly, "Assuming Zexion has control of the situation, there should be…"

Zexion? The kid? Sure he was one of the Organization's founders. But what was he doing…?

And at that moment, she realized everyone else had stopped the conversation to glare at her. "Oh. I'm sorry. Am I dismissed?" Larxene said in her practiced tone that held no sorrow whatsoe—

"Dismissed, Larxene."

Oh right. That was the other reason she didn't want to be around the Organization's leader. Xemnas had the nasty habit of instilling something close to fear in her. At his command, she teleported away in a dark portal.

Honestly, Marluxia owed her for this. He was relaxing in charge of Castle Oblivion while she was out running field duty and playing nice with the top brass. No doubt his plans were running as smooth as clockwork.

"WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING!?"

Marluxia winced at Vexen's shout as he slammed a fist into the control panel besides the tube. "I thought you had perfected this technique with the other replica. What did Zexion call them?"

"Exon," Vexen answered tersely before returning to recalibrating the machine for the new Replica. Number i. Marluxia had no idea why Vexen wished to use such a paradoxical nomenclature of numbers. His only answer long ago was a dismissal and a comment about Marluxia not having an appreciation of algebra.

Whatever the name, Vexen still had to properly process the data for the princess of heart. One that would create a new being in her likeness that they could control to manipulate Sora. The replica they had made of Riku was useful enough in starting to unbalance the boy, but they could not delay any longer. The princess was closing in on Sora's position, and if she made contact this scheme and their plan could be in jeopardy. And Vexen's patience was wearing as thin as Marluxia's as he began to ramble, "I had thought with the notes I had gathered from the Superior's work on my project I could account for the fluctuations brought about by replicating a princess of heart! But it just won't—!"

"Can you make them stable enough to live?" Zexion's voice cut through the chatter, and Marluxia's hand tensed. He was loath to have his command subverted after having worked so hard to establish himself as the lord of the castle. But Zexion had insisted on more and more control as his plan to dominate Sora had progressed.

Vexen turned and looked at Zexion. "I could introduce a smidge of darkness to stabilize it, but the resulting replica would be different enough that Sora would not accept it!"

Zexion simply smiled as a green eye met Vexen's frantic gaze. "Do not fear, for I will make up those differences."

"Ah! Of course!"Vexen was mollified as he relaxed and turned to his device with a smile. "You've become quite resourceful with your illusions Zexion. It seems that number I shall see usage after all."

Zexion simply stepped forward and placed a hand on the glass. "Yes, Xion shall be instrumental in breaking the keybearer."

Vexen simply gave a distracted affirmation of the replica's new moniker. But Marluxia had enough of enduring this farce. "Your command of the situation is concerning."

Zexion calmly turned to face him, hands behind his back. "But necessary. Given my power is pivotal to controlling Sora."

Again his plan was the crux of Zexion's justification. But there were always other factors as Marluxia knew. "What of the others? Riku and Kairi are not to be taken lightly."

Zexion simply shook his head. "Once Sora is ours, the others will fall."

Marluxia raised his voice. "Your authority here—"

"Is absolute," Zexion reached into his cloak to produce a paper as he answered more sharply, "As given by Xemnas' orders." Marluxia snatched the document to read it, and to his aggravation, the superior had indeed signed off on this change in command. Zexion simply plucked the sheet out of Marluxia's hands and returned it to his person. "Do not fear. Your assistance is still necessary. But for now, you are dismissed"

This had gone on long enough. Slicing rose petals began to swirl around Marluxia as he began to call upon his scythe. "You—!"

"Dismissed."

And at Zexion's command the wind died. Marluxia knew what it was like when Xemnas issued a command. By the sheer force of his will it left no question that was to be obeyed. And such power was enjoyed by those whom Xemnas had chosen.

And Xemnas always chose such people to wield that power for a reason.

So Marluxia stood down, and simply turned to leave. As he passed the door, Lexaeus was in front of him walking by. The giant of a man almost bowled over him, but just in time, a hand caught Marluxia before he fell. "Apologies." Lexaeus answered as he helped Marluxa steady himself.

And Marluxia felt something pressed into his hand as Lexaeus held it.

A note. A primitive form of subterfuge. But right now, Marluxia wasn't too picky about the method. Quietly excusing himself, he made his way down the hall towards his room. Clutching the message that was given to him. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to waste it as he quickly sealed the door shut to his chamber. In the safety of his quarters, Marluxia unfurled the paper.

Your concern is not unnoticed or unfounded. Meet tonight.

-V