Chapter Thirteen: Past

Secret Report: Lexaeus I

I remember when the time came for us to shed our hearts, I had objected to subjecting Ienzo to the procedure. I argued that he was just a child, our leader counted that he was stronger willed than I gave him credit for.

And he was right. From that surprising amount of will to survive, Zexion was given the chance to exist.

But still, sometimes I see him staring off into the distance. Especially when our history is mentioned. Nothing major, and certainly nothing that hinders his work.

Still, I wonder about what kind of grip the past may hold on him.

"Ah, I missed this." Axel took a bite from the popsicle of sea salt ice cream.

From his chair Zexion groaned and held his head in his free hand, "Please don't eat on the bed." Axel simply shrugged and continued enjoying the dessert on Zexion's mattress. Shaking his head, Zexion turned over to the quiet Roxas. "You're sure you're not hungry for one? Axel did make a deal for the both of you."

Roxas opened his mouth, hesitant to speak before eventually answering, "I...not right now. Dinner was a bit much and...I need a minute."

Axel raised an eyebrow as he munched away at the ice cream. "You haven't had any problems with the rations before. Are you doing alright there?"

"Just...got a lot on my mind." Roxas muttered as he leaned on the wall. How seeing someone really fall to darkness was so different than what he had learned, memory or not. How Naminé was doing since he hadn't seen her yet today. And how did Axel and Zexion

Getting off the bed, much to Zexion's relief, Axel walked over to Roxas. "You think you could share at least one of them?"

Well, they didn't really understand why he cared about that world at all, so he saw little point to bring it up. And he wasn't really sure where Zexion stood with Naminé. If he was willing to cut her slack like Axel, or would do anything to keep her in line like Larxene and Marluxia. So that only left one thing. "What was that castle? You said it was something in the past?"

"Start with a harder question why don't ya?" Axel muttered as he took another bite of ice cream and began to chew it around. Eventually, he answered, "That castle was from our home world a long time ago. Though when we left it ten years ago the place was falling to pieces at the hands of the heartless."

Roxas nodded, following so far. If it was that far back, it'd definitely be weird to see it again after so long. But then that left the question of the Heartless. "How did they get there? Did someone important fall to darkness?"

Axel looked over to Zexion, who sighed and slowly began to explain, "There were experiments done in the castle on heartless." Staring for a moment at his ice cream, he quietly admitted, "I was there for it. Though I'm not sure how it all got out of hand."

Axel shrugged and walked over to Zexion. "Well whatever happened, the castle was ground zero for the heartless invasion," With a smile, he put a hand on Zexion's shoulder. "And the organization." Zexion just rolled his eyes and shrugged Axel's hand off his shoulder.

Experiments on heartless? If it was something that happened with the Organization that would make sense, they were enemies after all. But before? The answer only fueled Roxas' curiosity. "How did it start? Why were they experimenting on the heartless?"

Axel twiddled his half eaten popsicle in his hands at the question. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard." He looked to Zexion, clearly waiting for some kind of explanation.

Zexion sighed and nibbled on his ice cream a bit before answering, "I was never told the exact reason. The most I ever heard was that we simply were aiming to examine the entirety of the heart. Both light and dark."

Axel took a bite of his popsicle and digested the answer. Eyes on Zexion the whole time. "You were in that castle helping out with those experiments, and you knew nothing?" Roxas had to admit the lack of answers was getting annoying.

"I was a child!" Zexion snapped and slammed his fist into his desk. Roxas and Axel both took a step back, leaving him to take a shaky breath before continuing, "By the time we were Nobodies and realized what had happened, most of the notes were destroyed in the chaos the Heartless had made." All he could do was sit and cross his arms as he admitted, "In all likelihood, I barely know more than you do Axel."

Axel looked away for a moment, uninterested in what was left of his ice cream. Roxas could hardly believe it. Zexion and Axel seemed to know almost everything. But now? Now they seemed just as lost as he was.

No.

It was worse for them. Roxas had just been lost for a few weeks before the Organization gave him some semblance of direction.

For ten years they couldn't get any answers.

"I'm sorry."

Zexion looked at Roxas as he spoke, surprise obvious in his face."For what? You weren't even there to play a part in those events—"

"Unless you picked up time travel while we weren't looking," Axel quipped.

Zexion paid no heed as he continued, "More than that, all you wanted to know was the truth."

"I know I didn't cause it. It's just..." Roxas tried to find the best way to put what he saw into words. Just what exactly Zexion and Axel did their best to ignore. "It hurts, doesn't it? The past, and not knowing anything about it."

Zexion was just quiet. Taking the last bite of his ice cream he looked away, though to Roxas, it almost seemed like a bit of a nod.

Axel just tossed the tiny stick of wood he was left with in the trash. "Well, pain seems to be one of the few things we can feel."

Right now, Roxas didn't quite have the answers he was looking for. But somehow, it seemed understanding Axel and Zexion was a bit more important. And right now, he was pretty sure they needed a minute to themselves. "Hey Zexion? I think I'll have my ice cream tomorrow."

"Of course." Zexion nodded a bit more firmly and gestured towards the freezer, concealing it again as a dresser.

Axel stretched as he headed to the door. "I'll be heading back too. Same time tomorrow?"

Zexion was quiet for a moment, but eventually he smiled. "Assuming you're up on time."

"If he's not, I'll wake him up." Roxas answered as he began to head out as well.

As Zexion began to set his book away, he paused to look over at him. "Thank you, Roxas." It was rather simple, but Roxas couldn't help but sense there was something more to those words.

But currently, he didn't want to waste too much more time. Right now Roxas needed to see how his other friend was doing.

Kairi dodged as best as she could against the trickmaster's unwieldy swings. With the clubs on fire, even a glancing blow could mean trouble. But eventually she gathered enough distance between her and the heartless, and calling on the power of ice, she was able to make enough of a blast of cold to extinguish the weapons and cause the heartless to stumble. Seeing her opportunity, she leapt on the chair to get to the high—

"What did I say about getting distracted!?" Larxene snapped, and put her hand on the crystal ball that Naminé was observing. "This isn't Sora or Roxas, so what are you doing watching the princess?"

Naminé tried to hide her fear and answered calmly, "Marluxia ordered me to watch her."

Larxene raised an eyebrow, still unconvinced. "And why would he want that?"

"So I can decide," Naminé paused for a moment to try and find the best way to explain what Marluxia had requested, "what to do with what I learn."

"Naminé." The faint crackle of electricity could be heard as Larxene leaned in closer. "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?"

"I'm not lying. You can check with him." Naminé met her eyes, yet was tense as the energy around Larxene failed to dissipate.

"If he tells a different story, I'll be back." Opening a dark portal, Larxene left.

Naminé waited for the last wisps of darkness to vanish completely before letting out a breath. She knew that Larxene's and Marluxia's rules about what she could and could not do were strict and unclear. But most of the time, she was able to follow them. But even so, it seemed as if they were constantly looking for some way to uncover some hidden disobedience she hadn't considered. For the most part, she was certain about Marluxia's directions regarding Kairi.

But as she looked back to the crystal ball, she couldn't help but have doubt grow once again. With a final airborne strike, Kairi was able to bring down the trickmaster. Was it really possible? Could she even—?

*Click* creeee-

As she heard the familiar sound of the opening door, she relaxed. No matter what happened in the day seeing Roxas again helped make things a bit better that night. He was a bit sheepish as he walked in. "Hey there. Sorry I'm a bit late. I had to talk with some of the other Organization members after dinner."

"It's alright. I'm just glad you're here now." Turning off the crystal ball with a gesture, she got up and walked over to him. "How was the world today?"

"The world was pretty, but tough to get around." Of course. If they wanted to ensure Roxas' training was complete, they'd want to include the Deep Jungle. Roxas then frowned as he continued to explain, "And I saw someone...fall."

"To darkness." Naminé grimaced as she recalled the events of that world.

"He just changed in an instant." "And the heartless used him like a puppet."

"Many weak hearts have been ensnared by the darkness and went on to do terrible things because of it." Even going through Sora's memories second hand, she couldn't help but shake the sense of trepidation as she watched so many fall to darkness. Clayton, Maleficent and her minions. Even Riku was no match for its corrupting influence.

It felt like such a weighty topic for a time the two of them had a chance to really relax. Naminé shook her head as he couldn't quite look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry. This probably isn't what you wanted to talk about."

But Roxas taking her hand helped to reassure her, as did his smile. "It's okay. Sometimes it's good to get these sorts of things out there." And in a way, it did help. The trust the two of them had made it so much easier to talk about things they needed to let out so desperately. "But if you want to change the subject, there's something I wanted to ask."

She smiled at the request. "Of course, I'll do my best to answer."

"I think I'm seeing the memories you're making. In my dreams."

At his question, Naminé was a bit perplexed. "Roxas, Nobodies don't dream." 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.

Roxas winced and tried to explain, "I know, but whatever's happening when I sleep is pretty close. It's like I'm inside Sora on some islands, with you, Kairi, some other boy. What's his name?"

"Riku. His name is Riku." She answered the immediate question easily enough. But going through exactly what had happened during the night, she began to tap her cheek in thought. "I suppose it makes sense. With you being asleep and Sora still alive, you might be able to tap into some of those memories." She considered what Roxas might want with those dreams however. "Are they making it more difficult for you to sleep? Did you want me to create less?"

"Nonono. Nothing like that," Roxas waved his hands gently before hesitantly asking, "Are...you lonely in those memories?"

Roxas' question gave her pause. But eventually she nodded. Each of those fake memories was just another twisted bit of pain. False happiness that never was, even though she had the phantom sensation of having lived it. The kindness she was shown was just eroded by the reality of her situation.

"What if someone else was there?" He began to offer curiously. "Someone who saw you?" It would be nice for someone to help keep her company. To be a lifeline in those memories. But who? "Someone who might have been there to begin with?" She looked up at Roxas in surprise of his suggestion. It was the same sort of logic she had been able to use to insert herself into Sora's memories. If Kairi could be there, so could Naminé. And Sora could be there, so could Roxas. He just had a small smile as he made the offer.

"I...I could do it," Naminé began to answer shakily, before she steadied herself, "They can't find you at all. If any one of them finds you, I'd have to start over with the memory." Or make him a complete part of Sora, Kairi, and Riku's childhood. And she wasn't completely sure he wanted to become a whole part of that.

Eagerly, Roxas nodded. "Got it. I won't let them see me."

"Then take my hand." She held it out for Roxas to hold on to. And as he held it, she tried to focus on a moment she had created where she was more out of the way. Somewhere...

A blue sky…The ocean…An island…

Sora was there as always.

But this time as Roxas watched him run forward to the other side of the island, he could feel the sand beneath him. See the sun shining in the distance. Hear the ocean's waves. A brief glance downward confirmed his hopes. He wasn't in Sora's white and red clothes, but a dark grey t-shirt and black pants.

This time he was free.

And over by the shack, a younger Naminé held a crayon and paper. And her eyes were on him.

Quickly, Roxas jogged over to her. The less time he was out in the open, the better. He couldn't waste another second. As he arrived, he sat next to her on the sand. Naminé gave a small smile as they looked out to the sea. It was so different from what Roxas had known before. It felt so very familiar to him. He asked, "What are you thinking about when you see this?"

"I think it's beautiful," she said softly before a sigh escaped her. "But I won't be here forever. One day, I'll be gone from here, and I'll have to leave all of this behind." Her smile fell as she asked, "What's the point of dwelling on something that won't be there forever?"

For a moment Roxas sat there, Naminé's question weighing on him. Eventually everything ended, right? Memories, lives, time.

Even so.

"But it was good for it to be there at least once right?" Not to mention some part of Roxas wasn't sure if it was absolute. Who's to say something was gone for good after it left? "And what if there's a chance to find it again?" She looked to him in surprise at his answer. "Maybe I can find a way so you can see this again for real."

"It's been so hard to hold on to hope." Her hand brushed on the corner of the notebook at her side. Eventually, she turned to him with a smile. "But being with you helps me see it a bit better."

And unlike the ones he saw before in his dreams, this one seemed to be so grateful. Not a mask held up for appearances sake, but something real.

"Naminé?" A girl's voice called out from beyond the cove.

And like that he shot up, the spell of the moment broken. Naminé was startled as well. "Roxas, Hide here!" Holding open the door of the shack, Roxas began to kick up sand as he scrambled inside. But as he was closing the door it stopped, and he saw Naminé holding it open for a moment. Just long enough to give him a nod and say…

"Thank you."

Roxas let out a breath as the memory ended. It was unbelievable just how lifelike everything was. More than that, he knew it had happened. Distant as it was in the past, that memory was a part of him. "I know it isn't a whole lot. Just a minute."

She shook her head with a smile. "It's more than enough." She looked at him as she held his hand a bit tighter.

"If we don't do something this entire situation will be more than we can handle." Marluxia stared at Vexen and Lexaeus, the former pacing as he watched the crystal ball.

As he paced Vexen pondered breathlessly, "Yes. With the princess of heart having acquired a keyblade, her viability as a hostage has diminished considerably."

Larxene shrugged, "What with the super strength, magic, and of course the ability to unlock anything."

"Rendering most forms of imprisonment impossible." Lexaeus crossed his arms has he considered the situation. "What of our intruder further down? Riku?"

"He is formidable to be sure," Vexen came to a stop as he spoke before turning to Marluxia and Larxene with a smile, "But it is nothing I cannot handle. I have analyzed And without a keyblade, he will have difficulty escaping."

"As long as we have insurance." Marluxia nodded before shifting the crystal ball to show Riku leaving the sand filled streets of Agrabah."The superior has made it clear that if nothing else is accomplished in Castle Oblivion, we must do all that we can to stall the hero. Should the memory manipulation fail, we can rely on a hostage."

Lexaeus materialized his weapon and hefted it to his shoulder. "I will accompany you. We must bring all our power to bear to ensure this capture is successful."

"We shall return shortly with our insurance." With that reassurance, Vexen and Lexaeus vanished into shadow.

Riku sighed as he closed yet another of the strange castle's doors and returned to the same white hallways. Honestly, between the monotony of the castle and the nearly uninhabited memories he fought through it was difficult to keep a lid on things.

And he had to. He could still feel his presence in the back of cracks of his heart. Just waiting for one slip. One moment of weakness.

"A moment to realize that glorious strength once again."

Screwing up his eyes, Riku tried to block Ansem's voice from his mind. Just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Just try and ignore him and how his stench clung…

Riku stopped as he smelt the air. Ever since he was young, he had a strange habit of being able to just...smell when something was wrong. He ignored it when he began to ally with Maleficent, and he regretted everything since.

So when he smelt something so utterly wrong coming from the man standing before him he stopped. The thing that was so strange, was that it wasn't like light or darkness. Or anything he'd ever smelled before.

The bony faced man smiled at him, hands behind his back. "I take it you're Riku."

He stepped forward, ready to spring to action at a moment's notice. "Are you with Ansem?"

"You are partially correct." Another voice behind him spoke. Riku spun around to see a mountain of a man step out of a dark portal, claymore hefted on his shoulder.

In a flash, the bony faced man summoned a blue spiked shield to his side. "Let us just say he is not the Ansem with which you are familiar."

The giant slammed his foot to the ground, sealing the path behind him with rock."But that is beside the point. You shall come with Vexen and I."

Riku summoned his dark blade to his hands. "Sorry, gonna have to turn down your invitation!"

"The hard way it is then. Lexaeus?" Vexen waved his hand to summon spindles of ice and shot them at Riku. He was able to dodge them all handily, even slashing one back at the attacker.

But as the shots approached Lexaeus, he swung his blade at the projectiles. The ice shards shattered and ricocheted back towards him. Riku held out a hand to summon dark fire and melt some of the frozen shrapnel. He ran towards Lexaeus and began to slash away at him. The giant flinching at each strike from the blade.

Vexen's laughter caused Riku to stop and dive away. Just in time for an icy disc to miss its target. Turning and leaping towards the caster, he began to rain blow after blow on his shield. Vexen winced with each strike, and it was clear he couldn't keep this up forever. All Riku just needed was one more strike.

"RAAAAAAGGH!"

And in that moment, Riku was never more thankful for the habit many of his foes had of calling their attacks. As he snapped toward Lexaeus bringing his claymore down on his head. But as the attack made contact, Riku was flung back. And as he regained his footing he could see why. Power radiated off Lexaeus, to the point that it was almost an aura. Even as he was feet away, he tossed his blade to the sky and began to punch the ground.

Riku began to take a step back in the nick of time. With each strike to the floor huge rocks of earth shot forth at Riku's feet, forcing him to move back. With Lexaeus catching the blade and bringing it to the floor once more, Riku jumped away to avoid the cliff that shot up at his feet. Lexaeus narrowed his eyes at his opponent. "You wield the darkness, yet you do not embrace it." With a roar, power began to surge around him once again, knocking Riku back.

"That fear shall be your downfall!" Vexen crowed as a pool of ice gathered at Riku's feet. Rolling away, he was able to avoid the colossal spike of ice that sprouted from the ground. As Vexen continued to gesture, Riku saw the ice continue to grow at his feet. Rolling again, Riku just barely avoided another ice pillar that followed him.

And unfortunately, Lexaeus followed him too. Leaping across the room at Riku, he brought his claymore down on him in an explosion of rock, catching him in the blast. This time, he couldn't defend against the attack and was flung back. Again, Lexaeus tossed his weapon and smashed the floor, and Vexen continued to throw more blades of ice at him. It took all of Riku's focus to evade the entire barrage, and he barely had a chance to get a blow in on either one of them.

But finally, Vexen drifted a bit too close. "You're wide open!" Riku slashed once again at the shield, causing it to break. Crying out in surprise, Vexen had no more defense against Riku's attack. With slash after slash he tried to take him out and end the magical barrage. Hopefully that would give him room to breathe.

"Foolish!" Lexaeus roared, and Riku was forced to halt his attack and turn to his other opponent. Power had begun to roar around him as he floated in the air far away from him. A distant shout was Riku's only warning before Lexaeus came careening towards him. While Riku was able to avoid the pillar of earth that erupted immediately from where Lexaeus had struck, he was unable to avoid the aftershocks. With the subsequent crags and stones knocking him into the air.

"Hold still!" At Vexen's voice so close to him, Riku spun midair to try and face him. But it was too late, as he was only in time to see Vexen held out his hands and a gale of ice began to cover him.

Riku panicked as he realized the frost was encasing him. "No! NO!" He cried out before being frozen completely. But between the crushing blows Lexaeus had inflicted and as the cold sapped his strength, he could hardly fight back. The block of ice encasing him dropped to the ground. But even though his frozen body was motionless, Riku's mind was screaming, 'NO! I CAN'T LOSE HERE! I WON'T LOSE!'

"Of course you won't."

And his mind came to a screeching halt as he recognized the voice. Even clearer than when he manifested in front of him floors ago.

"You have power."

"My power."

Riku panicked, tried to do something. Anything to hold back the tide. 'N...No! I don't want this!'

The voice laughed as Riku could feel the power he could barely control overwhelm him once again. "But you did! Even now, you still rely on it!"

"THE POWER OF DARKNESS!"

Vexen relaxed at seeing Riku detained by his ice prison. He turned to Lexaeus with a smile. "Excellent! We should be able to transport him safely to my lab for study with this."

Still, Lexaeus frowned as he looked at the frozen boy. "Something's wrong."

Vexen scoffed as he walked closer to Riku, "I realize that utilizing your full potential so soon in a battle is not quite your standard practice, but ensuring a clean capture—."

"Get back!" Lexaeus shouted and grabbed Vexen by his cloak to pull him away from the ice which had begun to gather darkness. More and more it gathered around the frozen block until it shattered. But with the imprisonment destroyed, the darkness did not stop gathering. It only grew larger and taller.

When the darkness cleared, Riku was gone. In his place stood Ansem, The Dark Seeker.