Chapter Twenty Four: Unease

Cid let out a sigh as he saw his ship touch down outside and began to put away his tools. Knowing how fast Yuffie could run, he didn't want to be holding anything sharp when she came barging in. Still, this was mostly touch up work for the main castle hall, turning it from evil lair to semi-respectable base and disabling some of Maleficent's locks. Sure enough, a few seconds later a loud bang was heard as the front doors were kicked open. "So my ship is still in one piece."

Yuffie gave a thumbs up. "Yep. And we did good. Mirror's in pieces and Maleficent's on the run!" Her cheer faltered slightly as she looked back to the entrance. "Though…"

"Naminé's been having some trouble lately," Ventus answered with Naminé leaning against him as they walked in. He looked over to her as she winced. "Her head's been hurting, bad."

"I...I don't know...I'm seeing things I don't know…" Slowly, Naminé sat down in one of the rebuilt benches, eyes screwed shut.

Cid paused. Seeing things. If her story was right, there was something else Naminé could see…

And change.

He asked tersely, "Is it like seeing Sora's memories?"

Because despite the girl being as kind as she was, that power scared him more than anything.

Slowly, Naminé nodded. "It's...the closest thing I can think of. But it's all a jumble."

Cid crossed his arms. "Maybe part of you is playing catchup with what Sora's been doing recently?" If that was all it was, then there wasn't much to worry about. But if it was something else?

She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing I'm seeing leads to him. It's so hard to put it together even though it seems familiar."

Yuffie scratched the back of her head in puzzlement. "Didn't you have this problem before? After we finished in the Enchanted Dominion?" Naminé gave her a nod and at that Yuffie relaxed. "Then it's probably just him and you just needed time to sort it out."

Naminé seemed unconsoled by the advice. "But I can hardly recognize anyone there."

Ventus sat next to her on the bench and looked to her in concern. "Could you draw them?"

Naminé considered for a moment, but then sighed. "If my head wasn't hurting."

"Early rest after dinner then. That way you'll be ready in the morning." Cid put the lock on his tools and led the trio down the hall. Fixing the castle was a big concern alright. But the kid's memory powers going haywire would be a whole lot worse. Might be worth talking to Merlin about it so the old windbag could have something to do.

But for now, he was in the mood for food.

Erxart couldn't quite shake the unease that had come over him after meeting with Xemnas. Granted, only Larxene had to stay and explain why she ran off with Naminé and ignored Xemnas' orders. But ever since then, Roxas had become quiet. Still, as they arrived in Twilight Town for some downtime, Axel attempted to lift his spirits with a smile. "So, ice cream?" The man rubbed his hands together in anticipation, though some part of it seemed strained.

"No." And at Roxas' refusal, Axel deflated with a sigh.

Erxart looked to him and Roxas with concern. "What happened?"

Axel floundered hands fidgeting as he tried to find the right words, "It's…Well..."

"Ventus, Naminé, and Yuffie told me things about what the organization did," Roxas snapped, his hands balled into fists at his side as he continued, "Naminé was tortured. And they were going to try and brainwash someone."

Erxart's eyes narrowed. Larxene didn't deny the accusations of torture during the mission, in fact she almost seemed to take pride in her work. But brainwashing? "What purpose would brainwashing someone serve?"

"Well…I..." Axel stammered for a moment, before he went silent and turned away.

Roxas stepped forward, pleading, "Axel, please, I just want to know the truth."

Axel turned back, his brow furrowed. "It's a bit hard for me to talk since I was just assigned to guard detail while Larxene and Marluxia were the brains behind it." Roxas tersely nodded as he continued, "Basically, after finding Naminé and learning about her powers, they wanted to have them change a particular someone's memories so that they'd work for us a bit more easily."

"And Xemnas signed off on this plan?" Erxart asked tensely. He already had his suspicions, but if the superior was willing to let this plan continue? That would give grounding to his fears. "Who would they want so badly?"

Axel looked around for a moment before answering, "A kid with a keyblade. As far as we knew back then, the only one out there. But here's the thing." He held up a finger as he explained, "All they told Xemnas is that they'd convince him to join us. They didn't mention a thing about changing his memories, or what they would do to Naminé to make her co-operate."

Roxas was incredulous. "And they weren't suspicious of them? At all?"

"Of course they were, which is why they sent me." Axel flashed a grin as he explained, "I was going to keep an eye on them and make sure they weren't doing anything to compromise the Organization."

Erxart raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Why didn't you say anything? Why not tell us?"

"You've got to be careful with this sort of espionage. Give away too much, and they'd do something drastic." Axel walked forward and put a hand on both of their shoulders. "I couldn't say much to you guys cause I wasn't sure where you both stand. But seeing as you both understand how badly this goes against the Organization, I think it's time I start filling you in."

Roxas relaxed. "That's why you couldn't say anything. You weren't sure if Larxene was watching."

"So what do you need us to do?" Erxart asked, "Did you want us to watch her, or do recon at Castle Oblivion?"

Axel let them go and stepped back. "Right now, just pretend like everything is normal. We don't want her or Marluxia to realize we're onto them. I'll let you know when I need your help."

"And we'll bring her to justice." Erxart gave a nod. After Larxene's words on Naminé's treatment, he had some misgivings. Fortunately, it seemed there were enough good people in the Organization looking to do the right thing.

In time he might be able to talk about what Ventus had brought up. How he had called him a name Erxart only heard in his dreams.

But for now...

"So? In a better mood for ice cream?"

Roxas gave a small smile. "Yeah. I think so."

For now the boy needed a bit of time to rest.

Yuffie leaned on Leon's shoulder, munching away at her dinner. "Any luck finding what might have gone on with Ansem?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Oh come on! There's gotta be something! Even just a team photo!

Aerith shook her head and looked at the charred remnants of old books they had in a pile. "That's just it. The entire lower archive was burned. Even the researcher rosters were destroyed." She stirred her food with a sigh and looked to Merlin, "Any luck finding what might have happened to Xehanort?"

He shut the tome in his hand and set it to his side as he took another sip of tea. "Just myths and legends. The most I could find is that he once fought alongside an Eraqus."

Leon scoffed, "And from Ven's story, we all know how that ended."

Cid turned to Merlin, "Well, while we're on the topic of history, about Naminé…"

Yuffie had a good idea of what was next. A whole lot of magical theory that she didn't care too much about. She was a bit more interested in how Naminé herself was doing. Yuffie got up and moved over to where Ven sat with her. But even though he still looked at Naminé's condition with concern, there was something else. Yuffie could see it in how he sometimes stared into the distance.

"You're worried about them." He looked up at Yuffie's statement, confusion still clear on his face. "Erxart and Roxas?"

He looked beside him sadly. "And Naminé." At her name, the girl gave a small smile before trying to resume slowly eating her food.

"Did you want to talk about it?" Yuffie sat beside the two. "From what I could tell, you seemed pretty convinced he was your friend."

"They practically look the same except the cloak." Ven sighed and set down his fork. "I...I promised I'd save him. That if Terra fell to darkness that I'd bring him back." He shook his head slowly. "Now I'm not sure there's anything left. It's like he's completely gone."

Naminé looked up from her food. "Maybe his mind has forgotten, but the heart never forgets." She placed a hand on his own. "I know you'll find a way to bring him back."

At Naminé's words, Ven was able to perk up a bit. Honestly, Yuffie just wanted to leave the conversation with that and him happy. Unfortunately, there was the other member of the Organization they had met and made an impression on. "And then there's Roxas."

And of course, Ven deflated at having his doppleganger brought up. "He seems like a nice enough guy, just mixed up in something bad." And after a moment, he scrunched his eyes closed. "I really don't want him to end up like Vanitas."

The dark keyblade wielder Xehanort had molded into a weapon was definitely something Yuffie hoped she would never have to see. That kind of power in the wrong hands, as well as the Unversed Ven talked about just sounded like a recipe for disaster.

Though it seemed like there was one advantage Roxas had that Vanitas didn't. As Naminé pointed out, "He has friends he wants to help. I don't think they'll turn out quite the same."

Though there was a bit of a fly in that ointment. "Shame he wants to stick with the shady Organization to be with them though," Yuffie grumbled.

Ventus held his head in his hands. "I just..I don't know what I have to do."

Yuffie couldn't tell if Naminé was frowning from pain, or from seeing her friend so lost. But even so, she managed to talk, "You won't be doing it alone. We're here for you"

"At the very least you probably shouldn't be doing it after what we went through today. And while Naminé needs to recover." Yuffie clapped him on the back gently. "Take it one day at a time, okay?"

Ventus took a breath to steady himself before letting go of his head. "Yeah, you're right. I think we need some rest. Just some time to straighten things out before we go and take care of that Heartless in the Castle of Dreams. And after that..."

"What happens happens." Naminé finished. And Yuffie could get behind the sentiment.

In any case, she was sure they'd all sleep soundly tonight.

There it was again.

A chilling cold that smothered him.

Darkness all around. A mangled landscape.

Ventus had hoped after a week free from those nightmares that it was just a dream. But this was too familiar. Too real.

"Where...?" He looked around, hoping that somewhere in this dark world he could find Aqua. It might be the only way he could find her. Yet he couldn't find anyone or anything.

"Ven?"

He looked up to the voice. It was the light. That same light which had been with him since that first nightmare. Which guided and protected him. As it reached the ground, he stepped forward with a raised hand and a simple question.

"Who are you?"

"Well, well well."

At Vanitas' voice, Ventus summoned his keyblade and looked around frantically. Desperate to find the source. "I was wondering if your heart might become darkened enough to bring you back here again."

Ventus tried to hold onto the light next to him, and sure enough he felt a hand in his own. But even though it glowed a little bit brighter, it did little to stop a mass of Unversed from appearing from the shadows around him. Bruisers began to advance on him and the light, and Ventus held up his key to protect himself. "This...this is a nightmare! You're…!"

"Dead? Ventus, Ventus, Ventus. You already know the truth." Ventus looked up to where he could finally see the masked boy perched on a twisted crag of rock. "I was always there with you in Sora. Not as well off as you, but enough to survive." As he scowled the last word, the bruisers swung their fists. Ventus pinned down as he tried to hold off their barrage. "And when your heart left that prison, the keyblade caused some of your will to be scraped off. A husk that could move with a will of its own."

And Ventus knew exactly what he was talking about. "A Nobody."

Vanitas chuckled, "Whatever you want to call it, an empty body was right there, so why let it go to waste?" He snapped his fingers, and the bruisers raised their arms. Ventus just had enough time to roll away with the light. He raised his keyblade in an attempt to fire a spell.

"Ven!"

He looked up at the voice. A familiar voice. And that's when he saw the unversed knocked back.

By a figment.

And as he realized who his light was, her image snapped into focus.

"Naminé!?"

Looking down on them, Vanitas began to laugh. "Is this weak little girl your new light, Ventus? How long till I crush her too!?" He leapt forward towards the two of them, keyblade ready to strike them down.