Chapter One:
The Fourteenth Face

Where had that boy gotten to now? I had turned Twilight Town upside down, and there was no sign of Roxas or Sora. Of course, this was the "fake" Twilight Town, the alternate version of the real place. None of the people knew, either. Not that they talked to me. They couldn't see me. I kicked at a light pole in frustration, and my foot went through. This world was dissolving slowly. There was no point to this alternate reality any longer. Sora had begun his quest. Which was troublesome.

"Damn kid," I muttered. "Why did…"

"Axel!"

"What?" I turned, my hood flying back from my face, baring my brilliant, red, stick-out-everywhere hair. "Oh. Xigbar." Though my companion still had his hood up, I recognized him by his stature and his voice. Or maybe it was the way he was standing, cocky, with his hands ready to do just about anything. Weirdo.

"Stupid fool, looking for that idiot boy still. Diz has already sent him on his way."

"I figured that out, you know." I felt my blood rising, but at this point in time I couldn't lose any more face with anyone in the Organization. My own membership was much too tentative.

"Chill, man," Xigbar laughed. "You'll get your lover back—Xemnas is hatchin' a crazy plan."

I walked up to him, arms crossed. "You bastard," I swore, jamming my fist in his gut, "He was like my brother. Keep saying that shit and I don't care what Xemnas says, I'll kill you myself. Got it memorized?"

"You're a fool," Xigbar had doubled up around my fist, but he righted himself quickly. "You're so easy to get a rise out of, these days. Nervous much?"

"Edgy." I replied, backing up and rubbing my knuckles.

"Understandable."

"Thanks." I snorted, knowing that Xigbar had more on his mind than compassion. "Did you want something, or were you just trying to see how tense I am these days?"

"Xemnas is holdin' a meetin'. Everybody's supposed to be there. Be glad I came to find you instead of lettin' him look." I felt a twinge of apprehension. If Xemnas found out I was still prowling Twilight Town…he didn't need to know how deep this went.

"Thanks," I allowed, grudgingly. "But I don't need a babysitter." I stepped backwards into a darkness door, allowing the town around me fading from vision, replaced by the main chamber of Castle Oblivion.

"Axel!" Xemnas greeted me with a slick smile and a tilt of his cocky, silver head. I grunted in response, taking my usual spot against the far wall.

"Fading into the background. How atypical of yourself, Axel. Something troubling you?"

"Not a thing, Xemnas," I assured him, meeting his eyes with a glare.

"Well, that's good to hear," Xemnas was too happy. He was never this happy. What was going on? He raised his voice, addressing the group as a whole, but his gaze never left mine. What he was saying pertained especially to me, and he drove his point home with his even, steady glare. I held his eyes in my own, refusing to allow him to intimidate me.

"Our latest endeavors have left our ranks somewhat diminished, as you may have noticed," He waved his hand to encompass the entire gathering. Our numbers had depleted. "I have arranged for a 'replacement', if you will. She's on her way down here, now. I trust you will all give her the respect—and PRIVACY—she deserves. She doesn't remember anything about her past. Though it's a tragedy, there's nothing we can do about it."

Well, I thought that was rather obvious. Why make such a point out of something we all already knew? No one was saying anything. No one was looking at anyone else, except for Demyx, who was trying desperately to get my attention. I didn't let him distract me, though. I was still enjoying my glare-down with Xemnas.

I heard a set of footfalls on the hallway behind me, and tilted my head slightly, breaking the contact. Naminé pushed open the double doors; it was her sandals I'd heard. Behind her floated another nobody, hood raised. We couldn't see her face at first, but her figure was an almost perfect hourglass, and everyone in the room instantly took note of her delicate build.

"Thank you, Naminé," Xemnas said, smoothly. "You're excused to your room." Naminé made a slight face, but nodded and turned to go. She laid a hand briefly on the stranger's arm before departing, offering an encouraging smile. The stranger turned to look at her, watching her. Xemnas cleared his throat noisily; Naminé hastened away, the stranger's eyes following her, observing the door as it closed behind her, before she turned her attention back to us.

"Gentlemen, this is Raxet." He waved her forward, and she stepped once, crossing her arms and refusing to advance further. Xemnas pretended not to mind, but I could see the annoyance as his eyebrow twitched. "She is the new Nobody XIII,"

Raxet. Raxet. What combination of name had that come from? I pondered.

Raxet raised her hands to throw back her hood. Brilliant icy-green hair was held back from her face in two long pigtails, each of which fell more than halfway to her ass. Her piercing blue eyes didn't notice me, but I felt their intensity—it stopped my breath, icy in my chest.

"You didn't tell me you were going to showcase me," She scolded Xemnas, angry. Well, it made sense, I found myself thinking. She…seemed like she would be that way. Proud. Vain.

"I'm not showcasing you, darling," He assured her slickly. I felt my bile rise. 'Darling'? How dare he? Darling. Darling. They were talking, still. My thoughts were drifting away. They were talking. Something about members…thirteen verses eight. I dragged my memories away from my consciousness, focusing in on what they were saying.

"—it's difficult to replace Nobodies with power such as yours," Xemnas was telling her.

"Powerful?" I heard myself scoff before I'd really thought about it. Damn. Now I had to play it out. "She looks like she could beat a level one heartless. Maybe. If she had help."

She glared at me, stepping forward again, all hesitation gone, replaced entirely by aggression. "You have a problem?" She waved off Xemnas's motion to ignore me. Pwned, Xemmie.

"Yeah, Razer. I do." I pushed off the wall, stepping forward with a bit of my own aggression.

"Rah-zay." She corrected me, coolly.

"Whatever. It's bullshit that you're in the Organization!" I told her, sincerely angry. She had no business here. "I mean. I'm worried." I gave her my most concerned, sympathetic look. "You might, you know, break a nail or something."

"One of yours?" She replied, without missing a beat. Ouch.

"You bitch!" I jumped forward again, angrier now than ever. "What makes you think you're—"

Xigbar was the one who attempted to save me, sly old bastard. "Down boy." He grabbed my shoulder, jerking me off-balance. "Leave her alone." He advised in a stage-whisper.

"I don't mind," Raxet seemed completely non-pulsed. "I'll duel him, if he wants. Unless," She looked at me, blinking her eyes like a vixen, "Unless you really are worried about your nails?"

"It's ON, whore," I glared. Not at her, directly. I couldn't bring myself to meet her brutal eyes. So I sort of glared over her right shoulder, in the general direction of Xemnas. If he noticed, he didn't say anything. He motioned for the others to draw back, give us space. A white circle appeared on the floor to create an arena.

I summoned my chakram, lighting them as I waited for her to attack. She stood at her ease, stretching a long whip between her gloved hands.

"Are you just gonna stand there all day?" I taunted. "I thought you weren't afraid of me!"

"I'm not," She smiled sweetly. I tilted my head, confused at her sudden change of disposition. In a moment, it was explained. Chilly mist surrounded us, obscuring my view and making it difficult for me to breathe.

"Hey…" I complained, "This isn't very fair, Razer." I swung lightly, hoping to hit her out of luck. I never had much luck. I felt her whip, suddenly tight across my throat, cutting off some of my air.

"Sorry," She whispered in my ear. Her breath was frigid, and I swore that it gave me frostbite. "But you should have set some rules if you wanted to play 'fair'. Don't be such a baby." She slid the whip sharply, the tip of it slicing my cheek shallowly. Abruptly, she was in front of me again.

I laughed, feigning confidence. "I can beat you without rules." I swung at her with both my chakram. She had no way of blocking, that I could see. Her only powers seemed to be in making freezing air and her only weapon that silly little whip. She slapped at my left hand with the whip, wrapping it around the chakram and jerking it tight, pulling me off balance. I smirked, thinking that now there was no way at all for her to dodge, and swung down hard with my right chakram.

The sudden contact it made with her sword caused pain to shoot all the way up my arm. Where the hell had that come from? I didn't bother to ask, glancing to see if it was something to be overly concerned about. I only saw a plain, run of the mill scimitar. I cleared my throat, aware that she could have easily used that to hurt me quite a lot before, because I hadn't known of its existence.

"Dammit," I swore, lightly.

"We seem to have reached a stalemate," She noted casually, ignoring my curse.

We had, though. We were locked together, our arms extended almost as far as they could go, keeping motion to a minimum. Her body was pressed against me, and I could feel the chill of her skin even through two sets of uniforms.

I grinned down at her, our faces almost touching. "Well, well, Razzy. I didn't think you were this kind of girl," I pulled my right chakram free of her sword and lightly poked her in the stomach, pushing her away from me a fraction of an inch. Then I pulled it back, prepared to land a real hit.

"Hold." She said. I jerked to a stop right before making contact with her shoulder.

"Hold?"

"Your point." She told me, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I lose." She unwrapped her whip and stepped back. I recovered quickly.

"Er…" I coughed, "Yeah well, I told you you were no good! Even for Thirteenth, you're pathetic!"

"Shut up, Axel," Xemnas stepped back into the general area. I shot daggers at him with my eyes. "She's as good—she's BETTER than Roxas, and you know it."

I thought that was absurd. Roxas could pwn Xemnas's ass repeatedly. "No one's better than Roxas!" Well…somebody had to stick up for that stupid kid.

"Do not make his treachery your own," I recognized that tone, that look. He was warning me about more things than one. I backed down. Now was not the time. Not yet.

"As if," I muttered. "Roxas…that punk was a fool." I coughed. "Whatever. Let the chick stay."

"Oh good." Yeah. Sarcasm's great, isn't it? "I'm so glad I have your approval," She beamed almost cheerfully at me—it just hit me the wrong way because insincerity was dripping out of the corners of her lips.

"Shut up," I told her.

My reward for being a jerk the first day of her arrival? Xemnas reminded me of my low position in the ranks and in his favor. I had to give the newb a tour of the castle. Have you ever been there? That damn place is huge.