Ch.9

Saix waited as he watched the events unfold. He made sure that Namine could escape and confront Sora by the next floor. He knew exactly what she wanted to do and it only helped him in his own tasks. By letting her go, she was going to go and try and set things right between her and Sora. And that was exactly what was happening.

Namine expressed to Sora how sorry she was for what she had done. Sora did not understand at first, but soon he started to grasp it. From that single moment, everything started to fall apart for the plans.

It was only a matter of time now before Larxene and Marluxia noticed. And in fact, just as these thoughts crossed his mind, Larxene came back into the room.

He pretended not to notice her and kept his eyes locked on the sphere to watch what was going on with Sora.

"What!?" Larxene exclaimed. "Where did the little brat go?"

"I don't know what you mean. Which brat are you referring to?" Saix asked in a calm manner.

"You know exactly who I mean! She was here before and now she's not! You were suppose to keep an eye on her?"

"Was I?" Saix asked, trying to sound surprised by her statement. "I had no idea that I was entrusted with that task."

"You knew that we had to keep her here!"

"Maybe you should have been more clear with what you wanted me to do," Saix replied, the slightest smirk forming across his face.

"Why you! Argh!" Larxene shouted in frustration.

She stormed over to Saix and shoved him aside, getting a good look at what was being shown. Saix could see the anger in her eyes glowing. It was another impressive feat Saix noted. Her anger was clearly all just an act, but she did it so well.

"I can't believe this! Ugh… I'm going to go and have to fix this myself. You are so going to have to pay for this!"

Saix shrugged nonchalantly. "If that's what you say."

"Ugh! You're a real jerk, you know that? You just ruined everything!

Larxene's anger kept with her as she left the room in a huff. Saix felt relieved that she decided to deal with Namine and Sora first, rather than him. He was still hoping to keep from taking out too many members. If everything went as he thought, Sora could possibly end up doing the job for him. He moved back in position to watch on the sphere and watched the scene for Larxene to arrive.

But first he would have to move locations, he knew that Larxene would first go tell Marluxia, and he would come back. With that in mind, he disappeared from the room and moved to a different location to watch the event take place.

He watched everything go down. Larxene fought Sora, apparent anger and annoyance in her eyes. But it was all for naught. She went down easily. And then the time came when her strength failed her and she no longer could keep going.

Once Larxene was defeated, Saix figured it was time to confront the other traitor; Marluxia. Mainly because he wasn't entirely sure that Sora would be able to take Marluxia on. While Sora had defeated Larxene, and took on Vexen and wore him down, Marluxia was different. Marluxia had just a little more strength then the two of them. He had seen the status reports on everyone once before and saw that Marluxia's strength and magic was far better than Larxene and Vexen's.

But he knew he couldn't assume that Sora wouldn't be able to do it at all. If he had the right motivation he seemed to be able to take on anything. It was admirable, and Saix thought back to Roxas. On various missions Roxas showed that he had strengths and wouldn't give up. It made sense; after all, Roxas was Sora's Nobody.

Saix found himself slumping his shoulders. He hadn't thought of Roxas for quite a while now. So much had happened recently that thinking of the easier days slipped his mind.

"I wonder what Roxas is up to, aside from missions. It will be nice to get away from all of this once I am finished here… but that still will take some time. Might as well get a move on with it. I shouldn't stall for much longer."

Saix entered a portal and headed off to where Marluxia was. He found the man in a large room on the thirteenth floor. When Saix made his presence known, Marluxia turned and scowled heavily. It was clear that Larxene had told him of what happened. And now he must have known what happened to her.

"You. You really think you can just show up here casually? To show your treasonous face around here… the nerve of it."

Saix kept his face still and calm. He had no reason to be annoyed by Marluxia's accusations. He was right after all. In Marluxia's eyes he was a traitor to him and went right under him to get Namine free from his gasp.

"And now you are just going to stay quiet? You have nothing to say at all for what you've done?" Marluxia asked as he crossed his arms.

"What reason do I have to speak for? You already seem to know what I've done. I see no reason to try and deny that fact. It would lead nowhere."

"If you admit to it, then explain it. Why did you let Namine go? If you had not released her then we could have turned the keyblade master to come and serve us."

Saix breathed in. If there was a time for confrontation, now was the time. "I do not think destroying the mind of a child to serve our needs is what the Organization is looking for. I think that is more something you want, correct? You want Sora to come to your side and serve your needs. By using Namine, you have her make Sora into a puppet. Then with the power of a keyblade master on your side, you take on the Organization, and take it for yourself."

Saix paused as he watched Marluxia. The pink-haired man's eyes narrowed, the scowl still deeply embedded in his face. He had hit the nail right on the head.

"I should have known…" Marluxia muttered. "You always have been far too quiet and suspicious all on your own. Trusting you should have been out of the question."

"I suppose that could be true. But yet, you trusted me anyways. You believe I was with you to overthrow the Organization. Yet you know where my loyalty is and whom I trust. This was all apart of what I was tasked to do."

"So it was all a ruse from you? Then I figured eliminated Vexen was apart of that as well?" Marluxia asked.

Saix shook his head. Though secretly there was a secondary reason to take out Vexen, there was no reason to let Marluxia know that. All he needed to do was finish this and quickly.

"It was not my choice, but you gave me the order to do it. But now… that doesn't matter." Saix summoned his claymore. "With what you have done, you have committed treason against the Organization. Therefore it is my task to do as I am told… eliminate the traitor."

It wasn't that Saix wanted to be dramatic with it, but he wanted to put as much emphasis as he could. After all it was all irony to Marluxia now. He wanted those who were betraying him to be destroyed, and now the same was about to happen to him. If Saix still had a heart he would have maybe even laughed a little at the situation.

Saix lunged and brought his claymore down onto Marluxia. Before the weapon could hit, Marluxia moved out of the way. It seemed that Marluxia also had the upper hand in speed between the two of them.

Saix jumped in again swinging his claymore forward. This time Marluxia did not move from his spot, but instead summoned his scythe to block the attack.

"So this is how it shall be," Marluxia commented as he kept a firm grip on his scythe, keeping Saix back. "Let's see how good The Luna Diviner really is!"

"Then I shall say the same to you… The Graceful Assassin," Saix replied, spitting out the title harshly.

The two jumped back from their hold and prepared again. Saix picked up speed, moving forward, almost gliding across the ground. He gripped his claymore with one hand and put as much strength as he could into the next attack. Marluxia blocked it again, but Saix was quick to return another attack. Each time Marluxia either blocked it, or maneuvered quickly out of the way.

Saix gritted his teeth as he jumped back, away from Marluxia. "Currently Marluxia holds the upper hand. He is far faster than me and his weapon is lighter, making for those quick moves. If I have to… I make need to access my berserker mode. It may be the only way to give me enough strength to defeat him. But… we shall see first. I may be able to do this without having to resort to… that."

When Saix when to attack again, Marluxia waved his hand and smiled. Saix came to a halt before he got to close. In front of Marluxia, Namine had appeared, looking more terrified than ever.

Saix stood up straight, narrowing his eyes. "You're a coward Marluxia."

"Oh?" Marluxia asked in a sly voice. "You won't attack? Doesn't that make you the coward?"

"Attacking an innocent child just to get to you is not what I go by."

"Well that's good to hear, but you know this… child… is far from innocent. After all she is done, she isn't anywhere close to that."

Marluxia smiled again as he held Namine by the shoulder. She made no attempt to move or run away. Saix breathed out heavily. This made things more difficult. He did not want to harm Namine. He wanted to find a way to keep her safe as possible. But Marluxia was now playing dirty, and there was no way that he would let her go. And on top of that, Namine was far too scared to make a move of her own.

"That is still not what I wish to do. I will not harm her just to get to you."

Marluxia sighed. "So disappointing. After the way you handled Vexen I thought you would have no problem doing it again. The way you showed no remorse… was just chilling."

Saix's fingers tightened around his weapon. He knew exactly what Marluxia was trying to do. He was trying to rile him up. If pushed hard enough, the anger could possibly take over Saix and force him into his berserker mode. And if that happened, he would have no control over his actions.

"I will not do it. You're playing dirty Marluxia, and that isn't how I prefer to play."

Marluxia shook his head. "That is too bad. I was hoping for a challenge from you. And I was hoping Sora could entertain you for the time being with the right motive."

"Right motive… What is he…" Saix started to think, but he stopped.

Upon turning around he saw that Sora, along with his two friends; Donald and Goofy. They stood stood several feet behind Saix and he could see Sora's face was mixed with anger and confusion. The scene he saw before him was leaving him with thoughts that he had not given any concern to. And then it made sense to Saix.

"I see now… Marluxia hoped I would try and attack him while he held Namine. It would give Sora enough anger to not go after him, but me instead. Another low and dirty move… If he wasn't holding Namine hostage I would strike him down deeply for that."

Not letting himself get annoyed, he turned around fully and faced Sora straight on. "Sora, I didn't expect you to arrive here this soon."

"Move out of the way," Sora replied as he stepped forward.

Saix saw the look in his eyes. Sora wasn't even focusing on Saix, he only has his eyes locked on Marluxia. It was clear that Sora still wanted to protect Namine, even though she had created fake memories. Sora was truly someone unique in that fashion, to so easily forgive someone.

"I wonder… if he is willing to forgive her… would he consider that for me? I assume not. I figure his forgiveness to her may also be affected by the fake memories he still has in his mind," Saix thought to himself as he saw Sora approach Marluxia, keyblade in hand.

"Come now Sora, why go after me? You saw how cold and ruthless Saix was to Vexen. How he murdered him in cold blood. And Vexen never did anything wrong. Wouldn't you rather go take care of Saix first?" Marluxia asked, a deep toying tone buried in overall annoyance.

"No, he said he wasn't going to attack Namine. And right now, keeping Namine safe is all that matters. So let Namine go."

"Hmph. Very well Sora, if you want to save Namine, might as well come and find us," Marluxia replied before he disappeared into a corridor of darkness, taking Namine with him.

"Hey wait!" Sora shouted, but it was too late, they were already gone.

Sora turned around and stared at Saix once he realized that he was still there. "Where did they go?!"

"I would assume to another room on this floor. Just take a look around and you'll find them," Saix replied.

"You're not going to stop us from going after him?" Donald asked, tapping his foot while he looked at Saix with full suspicion.

"Aren't you all apart of the same group?" Goofy added in.

"Yes we are, but Marluxia is a traitor to us. I was tasked with finding a way to get rid of him because of what he has done," Saix answered.

"And what about that Vexen guy?" Sora asked.

Saix let out a sigh. He knew he could just leave the room, but he actually wanted to have a chat with Sora. A chat where he was not acting to get Sora to move along. That whole charade was over. Now he could be normal and see where it would lead. But he was left with a hard question to answer.

"That's… far more complicated. I had my reasons for doing so, but it would not be worth it to explain it all. You don't have time for that anyways. Go," Saix instructed. "Find Namine and defeat Marluxia."

"But… why are you doing this?" Sora asked. He had a questioning tone in his voice, showing how confused he was by Saix. "Why are you being all calm and nice to me now?"

"Because I can do as I choose. I have my reasons why."

Sora pouted slightly. He was a bit upset he couldn't get more of an exclamation out from the man. But it seemed that it was in Saix's personality to be quiet and vague half the time, and the other dangerous and serious. Sora wasn't fully sure he could even trust Saix. But he was thankful that he had chosen not to attack Namine.

"Thank you… you know… for not going to hurt Namine," Sora replied quickly.

Saix nodded in understanding. He then summoned a dark corridor and was ready to step through it. Just before he did, Sora spoke up again.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"That is not something that concerns you. I have other business to take care of, and that is all. And also...when you save Namine, tell her I'm sorry I couldn't help her sooner."

With that Saix left through the portal, again not waiting to see what Sora would say in response. He didn't know if Sora would do as he asked or not. But he wanted to try and hope that Sora would eventually tell her.

As much as he wanted to have a full conversation with Sora, it was not the proper time at all. Sora still had to defeat Marluxia… or at least try. If Sora were to fail… Saix would have to try again. But he had a feeling Sora would be able to do so. Sora had journeyed this far and survived, he could keep going.

But now there were other things Saix and to take care of. While Sora would be taking care of Marluxia… that still left one other Organization member besides himself. And he knew it would be tricky to try and find a way to dispose of Zexion. The Cloaked Schemer would be tricky, but thankfully they weren't the only ones still left in the castle.

I got a roll on this and now here it is. But I still tried my best and worked through this with all I had! Finally the changes are coming around! I hope you all enjoyed. If you want to, let me know what you thought. I love to see everyone's feedback.