Chapter Three: Search

AUTHORS NOTES: Some quick housekeeping before we move on any further. For the purposes of this story, Dream Drop Distance, X, and III are not strictly canon to this story. Certain story elements may be used similar to them, but otherwise they are not as binding to this story's lore. That being said, let's move on.

Roxas barely understood everything that happened during the Organization's meetings. As far as he could tell they mostly consisted of everyone appearing on their seats, talk about what they did, and praise others for doing a lot, or criticize others for not doing enough. If the bickering went on too long, one of the higher ranked members,often Xemnas, would step in and get things under control.

Right now, people were talking about what they did, which in Roxas' case, wasn't a whole lot. Fortunately, nobody told him how much he needed to do, so he supposed no work was as good as any work. One of the older members, Vexen if he remembered right, was taking a long time talking about his own work. "To summarize, the Replica Program is showing promise, if I can utilize proper rudimentary memories, we should be able to have a proof of concept ready."

Xemnas nodded. "That is excellent news. How soon can we expect results?"

"Assuming Naminé's co-operation, within a few days. The sooner I begin working on this the better."

The superior waved his hand. "Understood. You are dismissed." and after a brief nod, Vexen vanished into a dark portal. Right now, Roxas began wondering if he could leave early too. But everyone insisted he sit in on these meetings, that it would make sense in time. "Currently, the restored Keybearer is travelling back through the worlds, dealing with the heartless unleashed by the opened door to darkness. We shall observe from afar for now, and await the outcome of his inevitable confrontation, at The End Of The World."

Nope. Still A lot of words he didn't understand.

Demyx spoke up, "So, in short, stay away from him and wait till things change. Sounds good to me."

Ah, that was much easier to understand.

Larxene scoffed, "Easy for you to stay, you've just got basic recon duty. Some of us have actual work to do." then she began to smile. "Well, okay, mostly it's just keeping the witch in line. Sure there was that stunt with the jungle. But seeing as how she's stuck on the 13th floor of that labyrinth with no idea how to open dark corridors, us stronger than her by far, and no one else knowing she exists...we pretty much have her on lockdown."

Suddenly, darkness gathered at Vexen's seat, and he reappeared, wide-eyed. "She's gone."

The entire room went silent.

"Naminé has completely vanished from Castle Oblivion!"

And then everyone began shouting. Which meant somebody didn't do enough.

Well, probably not Roxas.

Ventus was sure that if Terra, Aqua, or Eraqus found out about what he did, he'd be getting yelled at. 'Do not meddle in the affairs of other worlds' was one of the earliest lessons drilled into him, and he was sure that helping someone move from one world to another fit that bill. But she already knew about other worlds and keyblades, so what was the harm in getting her out of that castle? Besides, she seemed terrified about the people keeping her there. At least when he was kept in the Land of Departure he had Terra and Aqua, his best friends. It almost seemed like Naminé...was completely alone.

He couldn't bear leaving somebody like that. So he decided to fulfill her request to the fullest extent. Which left her holding on to him as tight as she could, flying through the stars with only one question "So, where are we going?" Naminé was silent for a moment, then pointed toward a world he could just barely make out. "Huh...looks like a..town?"
"I've heard of it before. It's called Traverse Town."

"Well, that's easy to remember. Let's go!" And so they flew toward the world. And through a shimmering portal, appeared above the town. Bringing the glider down near one of the small plazas, he waited for Namine to let go and hop off before joining her and recalling his keyblade and his armor. There was a small fountain in the corner, and lights all around.

Naminé pulled down the hood on her cloak and began looking around, eyes wide.. "I can't believe this, I'm actually out of the castle."

"How long were you trapped there?"

"As long as I've known."

Ventus, frowned "They just kept you in that room all your life?" She nodded, and Ventus became certain that whatever world order that was being kept there was worth breaking. Which raised the question, "Why were they keeping you there?"

Naminé was silent for a moment. Struggling to find the words. "I...have a power that the Organization wanted to use to control Sora."

He tilted his head, "Control Sora? How? What kind of power would let you do that?"

"...It's difficult to explain."

Ventus considered asking for more details, but then realized how many things in his life were difficult to explain right now. "Alright, If it's hard for you to talk about it, you don't have to."

"Thank you."

Ventus smiled, and tried to change the topic. "Anyway, It's not like they can follow us into other worlds right? So you should be safe."

At this, she looked away, "They've mentioned having work on other worlds. So I'd imagine they have a way to find me."

"Oh…" Ventus thought it over, and the answer was then clear to him. "Then I'll protect you from them."

"What? Ventus you don't have to...Just leaving the castle is more than I ever hoped to have."

But he waved his hand, "Call me Ven. And I'm not going to just leave a friend, especially when they're in danger. Besides, doing this is helping to keep Sora safe. And I owe him a lot."

Naminé tilted her head, "You owe him? For what?"

Now it was Ventus' turn to falter. "Well...um...it's kinda hard to explain."

She blinked, but then nodded in understanding. "Fair enough." And with that Naminé stood back up. "If I recall correctly, we should be able to find a hotel somewhere around town we can stay at."

As the two of them made there way across Traverse Town, Naminé had to marvel at the lack of heartless in the area. Sora must have been here recently, more than likely getting stronger in preparation for stopping the heartless threat at its source. In any case, their search for the hotel was thankfully uneventful. And soon Ventus was ringing the bell at the front desk. "Just a minute already sheesh." The voice sounded almost youthful, and the shutter on the front desk opened revealing-

…

"Can I help you, Kupo?"
In an instant, every fiber of Naminé's being was filled with the need to hug the small fuzzy moogle before her. Unfortunately, the screen between them made contact an impossibility. Ventus spoke, "We're looking for a room." After exchanging the munny with the moogle and receiving a key, the two of them found themselves in a simple hotel room. "We can set up here for now. I'll go make sure there aren't too many heartless nearby."

She nodded. "I should be alright. Just stay nearby in case the Organization shows up." The Heartless wouldn't care about something without a heart after all.

Ventus gave her a thumbs up "Sure. If anything happens, don't be afraid to call for me."

"Alright Vent...I mean Ven." With a smile, the young keyblade wielder began to go looking around. Leaving Namine to her thoughts about her new friend.

No, not just that, her first friend. By a miracle he appeared, and managed to whisk her away from the clutches of the Organization that tried to control her. With barely an exchange of names, he called himself her friend, and offered to take care of her. She almost wondered if she was dreaming, until she realized that she couldn't. Yet the fact that might have once discomforted her only cemented that this was real.

On the table she noticed some stationary, and a pencil, and then she realized. In her haste to leave, she dropped her notepad and left her old crayons behind. Well, there had to be some downside to the escape. Still, she could make do. And so she made her way over, and began to sketch. And slowly, the sketch became a picture. The picture of a boy with spiky hair, in half black, half white clothes and some armor holding a keyblade. She paused, and then began to add to it another person. A girl in a black cloak and white dress holding his hand. For once, her drawing didn't bring the transient pining for a life she never had. Right now, she was drawing her own memories.

Twenty minutes, that was how long it had been since everyone in Castle Oblivion left to gather in The World That Never Was. And somehow in that time period, the linchpin to their plans had completely vanished. "You are certain there is no error in the scrying spell you placed on these orbs? If she is hidden in here, these should find her in an instant." Marluxia's voice was calm, but his fists were balled up tight.

"Do you think I would lie about this!? I need her for my research! Without some kind of input, the replicas will remain inert!"

"Weeell, you could be trying to keep her for your 'pet project'." Larxene drawled on.

"Accusations will lead us nowhere without solid evidence." Xemnas intoned, the debacle having demanded his personal attention. He turned to the two remaining members of the Castle Oblivion team. "Lexaeus, Zexion, do you have any insight?"

The Stalwart shook his head, while the Schemer kept his eyes closed, sniffing. "Strange…"

Axel turned to Zexion, "Well don't keep us in suspense, we could use the help on figuring out this little jailbreak."

"It's the faintest traces and I've never smelled anything like this before...but if I had to put it into words, it would be...pure light."

"So wait, are you saying that one of the Princesses of Heart broke out Naminé?" Axel shrugged. "Guess there's more to them than meets the eye."

"No. They are not behind this." The Superior shut down Axel's speculation, and continued. "As Larxene said before, no one knows of Naminé's existence. Which means that the cause is inside this castle. Or rather, was." At this point, almost everyone but Xemnas had an expression of confusion on their face, though Axel seemed more contemplative. "Marluxia. As you are in control of Castle Oblivion, you will be left in command here. Lexaeus and Zexion will continue their monitoring of this location under your supervision." The assassin nodded tersely. "Axel, Larxene, effective immediately, you are to dispatched to search for Naminé. Check in each day with your progress. You are both free to use whatever means you see fit to re-acquire her. But remember. Discretion is paramount. Do not bring any more attention than necessary, and do not harm her, we will still need her alive for our plans."

"No promises if I need to discipline the witch." Larxene grinned.

"If she is damaged, her powers may be affected, which will impede us. Needless to say, the keybearer cannot, under any circumstances, come to harm."

"And what of my project Lord Superior?" Vexen inquired.

"We shall discuss this matter privately." Xemnas conjured a dark doorway and gestured for the Academic to follow.

After the two of them had departed, Larxene created her own portal. "Great, finally got out of babysitting duty, now I've got to search everywhere for that witch." She turned to Axel, "Don't bother following, it's better if we split up and cover more ground."

"Well, things might have gotten icky here. But at least I've got a chance to get out for a while." Not that it mattered how he 'felt' about it. And with that, he too stepped into darkness and out into the universe.