The air was thick, and the sky dark...debris cut through the otherwise calm night as the wind picked up in the World that Never Was. Against the darkness of the world, a hooded figure stood in the window of the white castle in the sky.
The figure hummed in thought then turned to address two hooded figures behind him." A rebirth... find and retrieve them before they cause even more havoc." With the slightest nod, almost undetectable, the two figures disappeared.
Roxas and Axel raced into the depths of the World that Never Was, keeping a vigilant eye on everything they passed in search of the Organization's new member. Axel stopped in his tracks which made the blonde nobody halt in tandem.
"What is it?" He asked his fiery haired companion.
"How do we know where to go? We could be searching for days!" Axel complained in sudden realization. Roxas regarded him with amusement and pointed to the storm brewing overhead. "What? The storm?"
"The eye," Roxas clarified.
"How do you always know everything?" Axel asked skeptically.
"I don't, it just seems like a good place to start." Roxas clarified. Without waiting for his companion to catch on he raced away again towards the eye of the storm.
"H-hey! Wait for me!" Axel exclaimed, chasing after the hooded blur. As they ventured deeper and deeper into the World that Never Was Roxas could see shadows rise from the ground from the corner of his eye.
"Heartless. Don't waste your energy on them." Roxas stated.
Axel's eyes darted towards the blonde and then to the writhing pointy eared shadows with glowing eyes but he didn't respond. The farther they travelled, the more shadows seemed to appear.
"Why are there so many?" Axel asked while the two paused for a beat. He regarded the heartless warily as swarms began to rise from the ground.
"It probably has to do with-" Roxas stopped mid sentence as a figure came into view. A pale figure stepped weakly into the light from the shadow of two tall skyscrapers.
Axel turned to follow Roxas's gaze and his mouth fell open. A frail girl dropped to her knees before completely falling unconscious. "I guess that's who we're looking for," Axel shrugged as they watched the darkness slowly roll off her body like tentacles releasing their grip.
"Guess so," Roxas replied. Without batting an eyelash, he walked over to the nobody and hauled her over his shoulder with a small grunt.
"You sure you got her, shrimp?" Axel asked with a snort.
Roxas flared his nostrils, annoyed, but did not reply as he and the unconscious new addition raced off towards The Castle that Never Was.
The silence was the first thing she noticed before struggling to open her eyes. She winced in pain before shutting them quickly. The room was bright, much brighter than the world outside. She laid there in the thick silence for a moment before mustering up the courage to open her eyes fully. The ceiling she stared at was a white abyss and the room seemed vast. She sat up and felt her sore muscles straining to keep up with her weak movements. The room was empty save for the bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe, and a small stool next to the bed. Everything was white, she felt very overwhelmed. Nothing was familiar and everything she saw felt empty yet full of pain.
"What is this place?" She muttered to herself. She couldn't remember anything, not even her own name. "Where am I..." She whispered aloud, her attention fell on a set of black clothing folded neatly on the bedside table.
There was a note on top that she reached out to read, the words "For you," were scribbled messily onto the small scrap paper. The girl set the note back down on the table and put on the black leather outfit. There was no mirror in her room so she looked at her reflection in the window. She looked sick, like not enough blood was flowing through her body. She felt sick to her stomach but she didn't know why. The girl walked closer to the window and peered outside. She gasped when she saw how high The Castle that Never Was floated above the dark world below. Just then she heard muffled voices before the door to her room opened.
The girl snapped her head towards the noise, suddenly alert and ready for battle. 'With what?' She thought in realization as she put her fists down.
"Nothing you say is going to stop me Axel," she heard someone say.
"H-hey! She's awake!" a tall man with red spikey hair opened the door and stared wide eyed at her by the window.
"Huh?" A smaller figure filed in behind him, he had messy blonde hair, both strangers were clad in the same outfit she was given.
The three nobodies stared at each other in awkward silence until the redhead cleared his throat. "Uh, hey! I'm Axel and this is Roxas we found you out there in the storm, got it memorized?" He explained speaking dramatically with his gloved hands.
"Oh...hi," She found her voice after a moment.
Roxas barely noticed her, his mind was on Xion's disappearance and his suspicion of being lied to by the Organization. "We need to take you to Xemnas so he can name you." he stated.
The girl furrowed her brow, "Name me?"
"Well, unless you know your name already?" Roxas asked lamely.
Her eyes shifted to the floor in shame, "N-no."
Roxas backpedaled ", Sorry, it's just-"
"Don't feel bad about it or anything, we didn't know who we were either when we were reborn. Xemnas named all of us." Axel offered, cutting Roxas off before his bad mood got them into trouble.
The new addition took a few steps closer to them finally. "How many of us are there?" She asked slowly.
Axel thought for a moment, "There were fourteen—"
"Thirteen, there are thirteen of us." Roxas interjected, looking at Axel like he was losing it. Axel in turn looked very confused, he silently started counting his fingers.
"So I make fourteen? Are we related?" She asked, trying desperately to connect the dots.
Roxas let out a dry laugh, "No."
Vexell furrowed her eyebrows, "Then-"
"Xemnas will answer all your questions way better than we could. And we were supposed to bring you to him about ten minutes ago. If you don't mind we should get a move on it or we might get our head chewed off." Axel laughed nervously. She nodded quickly and joined them at the door, not wanting anyone to get in trouble.
The two organization members led her down a long hall and finally to a large door. Roxas turned to her ", Put your hood on and wait here. The door will open when we're ready for you." With that, the men entered the room and left her in the empty white hallway, and she pulled her hood on like he told her.
It felt like an eternity before the door opened. She was cold, alone, and confused in a strange place with strange people she had never seen before. The Castle That Never Was, was empty and white and just as terrifying as her current predicament. She felt her chest tighten and her breath become short, but before she could register the feeling, the doors flew open. She was faced with more white, she walked slowly to the center of the room and looked around...nothing. Finally she raised her sight upward to see long pillar-like chairs with black hooded figures seated atop. She counted eight, not thirteen members, she wondered who these people were and which ones were Roxas and Axel. From so far below they all looked the same, save for their positions in their chair. Some sat more properly while others slouched or had their leg thrown over the armrest of the high throne.
"Thank you for joining us without resistance, you must be wary." Someone spoke with a deep echoing voice, she pinpointed the speaker to be seated in the center. The girl didn't reply, it didn't feel like she was meant to. The other member's looked like they were staring through her soul even though she couldn't see any of their features. "What do you remember from your birth, young one?" The figure spoke again.
The girl cleared her throat "...Darkness..."
The man chuckled softly but he didn't sound amused, "Remove your hood, child."
She narrowed her eyes at the figure, although he couldn't see. She didn't feel like a child, she didn't think she looked like a child either. However, she didn't truly know how old she was. Instead of protesting the pet name she did as asked again and slowly removed her hood.
Roxas sat among the remaining members of the Organization listening to Xemnas starting the naming ceremony. At first, Roxas was impressed by Xemnas's knowledge of the future and past members. He didn't understand how he knew their names if they didn't know it themselves. The blonde watched with the other seven as the new Nobody removed her hood. He had seen her already with Axel but he was too angry to actually look at her. He felt as if her existence was meant to replace Xion. Roxas felt a slight resentment towards her even though he knew how confused and frightened she must be having just been reborn. He was still frightened and confused even though he had been with the Organization for some time now. He wouldn't dare tell them that though, Xemnas constantly reminded them that Nobodies do not have a heart, and with no heart they were unable to feel emotion. Roxas knew he felt emotion, it came in waves but sometimes he felt nothing at all. Lately all he had felt was anger and confusion. When the new member removed her hood and he finally truly looked at her, his racing thoughts halted.
Cascading out of her hood and onto her shoulders were deep rich purple waves, that contrasted her pale skin. She looked upon Xemnas in the center of the group with large doe-like green eyes. Her skin was smooth and she was different then the other two women of the Organization. Not aggressive and boyish like Lexion, and not soft and cute like Xion. This Nobody was different, she just didn't seem to belong among the rest of them. She blinked waiting for someone to speak again and Roxas noted her long dark eyelashes flutter. He heard someone shift in their chair beside him, Demyx. Roxas regarded him from the corner of his eye, Demyx sat forward with interest when he saw the new member.
"Would you like to know your name, young one?" Xemnas asked finally.
She swallowed and nodded ", Yes, please."
"Your name-" Xemnas suddenly descended his throne and stood in front of her. He picked up a lock of her purple hair in his gloved hand and twirled it around his finger. "-is Vexell." He finished.
'Vexell,' she repeated in her mind.
"Vexell, my name is Xemnas and I am the leader of Organization XIII." Xemnas introduced.
Once again Vexell did not respond, she didn't feel as if she was meant to. "Would you like to meet the other members of the Organization?" Xemnas asked rhetorically. This time she nodded and raised her eyes back to the high thrones as Xemnas gestured to the far left member. "Firstly Xaladin," as Xemnas announced him, the figure removed his hood revealing a long striking ponytail and a harsh looking man. "Next, is Saix," A greyish lavender haired man removed his hood next. "You've met Axel already, correct?" Xemnas asked as Axel, who was seated next to Saix, removed his hood and winked at Vexell. She nodded and the introductions continued, " Next is Xigbar, followed by Luxord." A heavily scarred man with a ponytail and an eyepatch removed his hood and then a blonde older man followed suit. "Demyx is next." A young man dawning a mullet and a smirk revealed himself locking eyes with Vexell who simply nodded. "And finally we have Roxas who you've also already met." Roxas removed his hood, to reveal his messy blonde hair and striking cold blue eyes.
Vexell felt resentment rolling off of his shoulders, she didn't understand why. Had she known him before she lost her memory? Xemnas continued to speak but she didn't register what he was saying. She watched Roxas's glare shift from her to Demyx, which suddenly felt well placed. He wasn't glaring at her; he was glaring at Demyx for some reason. Feeling her eyes on him Roxas looked back at Vexell who in turn began to pay attention to Xemnas again.
"For now, Vexell, you are defenseless. You are also a beacon for the heartless." Xemnas explained.
"The heartless?" Vexell questioned.
"Heartless are vermin creatures, they are born from the darkness in the heart." He explained.
"From my heart?" Vexell asked looking down at her chest.
Xemnas chuckled again but once again he did not seem amused, "Dear Vexell, you are nobody like us." He gestured around him to the other members of the organization. "Nobodies are the empty shells that are left when a heart has fallen into the darkness. We are the physical soul of our completed counterparts."
"I'm not real?" Vexell asked, even more confused than before she entered the room.
"You are real Vexell, as real as any somebody. You deserve to exist because it was your sheer will and power that allowed you to crawl out of the darkness. And I will ensure that you are given a fair chance at existing."
She felt his speech was meant to empower her and lift her spirits, but to also quiet her so she didn't press the issue of her existence further ", I understand." She lied.
"As I was saying you are currently defenseless; the heartless will persistently attack you, they wish to revoke your existence out of jealousy. Your weapon of defense alludes us at this time but we will help you draw it out of hiding. Until then I leave you under the watchful eye of Axel and Roxas the two who located. They will also be in charge of helping you awaken your abilities. Do you understand Vexell?"
Vexell nodded, "Yes, Xemnas."
One by one the members descended their thrones and exited the room in silence until all that was left were Axel, Roxas, Xemnas, and Vexell.
"Follow us," Axel said bluntly. She followed behind the two and once the doors to the throne room closed and Xemnas was out of earshot Axel turned around abruptly startling Vexell. "So, Vexell, huh?" Axel asked cheekily, "Nice to meet ya."
Vexell nodded and looked down at her feet, "I'm sorry this is all so overwhelming, I can't remember your name."
Axel's grin softened, "Oh! Uh...the name's Axel, got it memorized yet?"
His teasing tone made Vexell look up to meet his teal eyes, she smiled slightly and replied ", I think so, Axel."
"Good and this handsome brooding nobody is Roxas," He threw his arm around Roxas's shoulders and pulled him roughly towards him in a half hug. "Don't worry he's not normally like this, he's just going through something."
Roxas rolled his eyes, "I'm not going through anything. Come on, let's get her back to her room before Xemnas finds out we're roaming the Castle."
Roxas and Axel turned back down towards the hallway and Vexell followed, falling back into silence. The two stood by the door to her room, "We'll be back in the morning to get you started on training, but for now you probably need to rest." Vexell nodded and shut the door behind her in the room. She walked over to the window where she peered out like she did before Roxas and Axel came to collect her. Something dawned on her as she stared out into the vast darkness, her wrist felt lighter. She furrowed her brow and looked at her right wrist, when she woke up she wasn't wearing any jewelery. Why did it feel like something she would normally wear something around her wrist? She chewed her bottom lip as she examined her arm from different angles.
"Looking for something?" A voice said from behind her.
Vexell jumped and turned to the intruder, it was Roxas. He had used a portal to enter her room and she could see the door closing behind him.
He had another Organization outfit for her folded in his hands. "How did you do that?" Vexell exclaimed.
"I'll teach you tomorrow, what were you looking at?" Roxas countered nodding to her wrist.
Vexell fidgeted and raised her arm, "Oh, um...I think I had a bracelet before."
Roxas's face hardened, "You mean like you have a memory from before?!"
Vexell shrugged ", I mean I think I had a bracelet and it might have fallen off before you and Axel found me."
Roxas frowned in suspicion, maybe she had memories like he did, maybe she was lying. "I didn't see anything."
Vexell shrugged again and sighed sadly before looking back out the window ", I think it was important."
"You're probably just imagining things, we are never reborn with anything. Just the skin on our backs, speaking of-here." He closed the distance between them and placed the clothes in her hands. "I'll be back in the morning and we'll meet Axel in Twilight Town to train. I'll see you tomorrow."
Vexell nodded, "Good night Roxas." He didn't answer and just retreated into another portal of darkness. She shook her head and put the new clothes in her wardrobe before returning to her window. She narrowed her eyes as if she could stand a chance at seeing the glint of a lost bracelet in the far distance of The World That Never Was.