Chapter Twenty Eight: Suspicion

Larxene had no fear. Knew no worry.

But even Nobodies knew when something was dangerous. And right now, this was as dangerous as it got. If she was caught now, her whole plan would go up in smoke, to say nothing of her existence. But right now she was running short of options and time. And her assignment had given her enough of an opportunity to be around home base.

She had to steal from Xemnas. If she was going to get any more information, she couldn't lean too much on Ventus and Naminé being compliant. The talk they had in the Enchanted Dominion made that clear. And the last thing Larxene needed was Naminé getting any ideas about…

No. She couldn't think about that. Not now. Larxene needed a game changer, and there was one little thing Xemnas had that she could use to get more information. A disk, one he kept on hand for when he needed to access the computers for more personal matters. She had spied it once in passing as he was starting some late night work. Though the sorcerers had told her to move along before she saw anything more beyond one password screen. And out of the corner of her eye, one word.

ANOTHER

Larxene was certain that Xemnas had multiple layers of security behind that password. Even on the main organization computer, he had an aggravating habit of locking "critical research" behind six different passwords. Even knowing five of them as she had figured out would hardly help. Inputting the sixth one wrong would no doubt trip a sensor or alarm and bring Xemnas wrath down upon her. But in any case, the disc was a foot in the door that she desperately needed.

The sorcerer guards changed regularly enough. Two outside, Two inside, and an exchange on the hour. All she needed was a distraction. It didn't need to be big, a conversation was often more than enough. Fortunately, her ninja's were capable enough of conversing with the sorcerers. Or at least getting their attention and remaining obstinate enough so she could do her work.

So one day, at the top of the hour, Two Sorcerers exited Xemnas' chambers, holding the doors open telekinetically so the two outside could take their place. But before they could pass, the nobodies paused at a squad of ninjas wandering a corridor that they had no business being near. New recruits so the inexperience seemed plausible of course.

As the two packs of beings began whispers of discontent, Larxene began to move. Faster than a blink she dashed from wall to wall, barely a flicker in the sorcerer's gaze. And with their attention kept by the rogue nobodies, they had no presence of mind to look up and notice a disturbance. Unseen, she zipped into the room and with electrically charged daggers clung to the ceiling.

The room was sparse, as par for most organization sleeping quarters in The Castle That Never Was. A chair, a desk next to a bookcase, a bed, and a window outside. Though like the grey area, this one wrapped around the entirety of the outward facing wall. 'Of course our dear leader would want the nicest accommodations' she thought as she compared it to her much smaller room. Perhaps once they overthrew Xemnas, she could persuade Marluxia to let her have this one?

Larxene could think about sleeping space later. She needed that disk, now. She glanced over to the desk a bit more carefully trying to spot anything out of place on the surface or in the drawers. One sat ajar, ever so slightly. Gracefully, she leapt over to the corner of the room, far out of sight of any of the Sorcerers in the doorway who had progressed from talking to hissed arguing. Something about respect and propriety.

She leaned down and gently pushed the drawer open. And glinting in the moonlight she saw it. The disc she needed. Now of course, she couldn't truly remove it. He would absolutely notice if it went missing, and the superior responded to any sign of treachery with ruthless efficiency. But there was more than one way to steal technology such as this.

Reaching into her robe, Larxene pulled out a grey box with a small screen and a button on one side, a thin slot next to it. She took the CD and placed it inside the box. It was a quick device cobbled together from some earlier missions into technologically advanced worlds. A CD Drive attached to a hard drive, with a computer that had one simple task.

-Proceed with Data Copy?

Estimated Time: 60-30 seconds.

Her finger jammed the button as soon as the text finished crawling across the screen. With a whisper quiet hum, the drive began to copy everything in Xemnas' disk. She could create her own version of the disk later, when she had time to spare. But right now, that time seemed to be growing short. From the doorway she began to hear small sparks and the hum of magic. Any longer and a fight would break out and probably blow her cover.

Fortunately, the device finished its job and ejected the disc. Carefully, Larxene replaced it in Xemnas' desk, placing it exactly as she found it. Quickly, she dashed out of the room and down the hall to where her Ninjas originally came from. There was just one small matter she had to handle. Her alibi. Walking up the corridor calmly she began to scowl at her subordinates, "Alright, what are you slackers doing up here? You're already in trouble for getting in the way of sorcerers, you're just lucky that you didn't hold up—."

"Larxene. Your subordinates have been roaming a bit too freely. I assume you are here to bring them in line?"

She couldn't help but flinch at the voice. Xemnas slowly walked toward her from down the hall. When did he get here? Larxene quickly composed herself, "Lord Xemnas. I was just about to fetch this batch of recruits that had wandered off. Though they tend to be a bit quick."

Xemnas' eyes narrowed at the explanation. "Indeed. Return them to their places and await instruction in the gathering area."

Larxene raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Has there been a change in my assignment?"

Xemnas just continued to stare her down. "In light of your conduct last mission, some oversight shall be necessary. Dismissed."

"Very well. You four, with me. Now." The ninjas hastily bowed and began to accompany her as they walked away from the superior's room. But as she was further out of sight, Larxene allowed herself a small smile. She did it. She actually did it! She stole from Xemnas under his own nose and lied to his face about it!

Xemnas watched as the dark shades of Larxene and her ninjas moved out of sight before he turned to his Sorcerers. "Report."

We are almost certain there was an infiltration. By Larxene or one of her subordinates, we cannot say.

He smiled at the news. "Excellent. Return to your post." Xemnas began to open a dark knew Larxene was desperate. Desperate enough to try and leverage any sort of advantage she could get her hands on. He could confront her about the infiltration here and now, and put an end to her treachery. But he was hardly one to be so short sighted.

Why solve one problem at a time, when he could solve many in a single stroke? Why deal with the loyalty of one Nobody when he could potentially gauge the loyalty of other, more valuable pawns? Of course, he could not simply let the initial move happen without resistance. When one is serving bait, presentation is everything. A lesson he put to great use so very long ago, with one of his more powerful pieces.

The one whose door he stood before now. A doorway that opened to his presence. "Erxart."

Erxart was sitting on the bed, startled at the sudden intrusion, but Erxart wasted no time in standing at attention. "My Superior. This visit is...unexpected." He briefly glanced to the side before asking. "Is there a problem?"

Xemnas shook his head and entered the room. "Nothing that you should concern yourself with." Indeed, if he was this compliant then the gamble that he made in using Vexen's replica had paid off magnificently. It was an errant theory that an empty Replica vessel might act as a suitable vessel for a heart. One that Ventus' awakening had forced him to test using the captive guardian. At the very least, Ansem's nature as a heartless would allow them to re-capture Terra's heart so that nothing was lost if the vessel was unstable.

Fortunately, the replica conformed to the shape of the inserted heart. And the feckless youth whose body he had taken was given a new life, as artificial as it was. A life which Xemnas helped to craft and conform to his needs with simple instruction and guidance. By all standards, Erxart was practically a model member of the organization and an excellent tutor to Roxas.

And yet...there was an unease. An unspoken mistrust. Erxart was compliant, but asked questions. He followed the plan for training Roxas, yet desired more for the Nobody. As calm and collected as Erxart remained, there was always a seed of suspicion that Erxart fostered. Xemnas needed to know if that seed would blossom into betrayal. If it would seize on an opportunity. He walked past Erxart and began to look out the window, to where Kingdom Hearts shined in the sky. "I have an assignment for you that concerns one of our number. You shall accompany her on today's mission and monitor her behavior. Report your findings to Axel."

From the reflection in the mirror, Xemnas saw Erxart nod. "Very well. If Larxene does anything strange, I will let him know."

"Dismissed." Xemnas saw the replica leave the room. Was his compliance born of a willingness to serve? Or seizing the opportunity to meet with another who might mistrust him?

Either way, it was only one piece of the puzzle that Larxene's scheming would solve.

"I've got to say." Yuffie smiled as she looked back to where Ventus sat on the ship. "Your portal power makes this a lot easier. Don't have to worry so much about heartless ships."

Ventus blinked at that last bit of information. "The heartless have ships?" He knew that some of the Unversed could fly in the lanes between, but that was probably because Vanitas found a way to let them in. But full starships? "How do they even make the starships?

Naminé pondered the question, but eventually shook her head "I'm pretty sure they're less actual ships, and more Heartless that take on shiplike shapes."

Yuffie turned back to the controls with a shrug as she resumed navigation. "Yeah, Heartless get pretty weird and dangerous when they start reaching a certain size." After a momentary pause, her tone became a bit more thoughtful. "Makes you wonder if they got that way from being heartless for so long, or if they were just...always that way."

Ventus went quiet at that. The mad king Ansem made a heartless that threatened everything, while his nobody was running the Organization. Not to mention they had silver hair and yellow eyes, just like Xehanort. He shuddered slightly at the thought of the man who had ruined his life twice over and killed Eraqus. Such a dark and sinister man…

He had to be dead, right? If someone like that spawned a heartless or a nobody, who knows what would happen to the worlds?

"Ven?"

At Naminé's voice, Ventus shook his head. "Just...how Ansem looked, his hair and eyes, he reminded me a bit of..."

Yuffie turned back as he trailed off. "Of?"

"Xehanort." He muttered. Even saying the name just conjured up unpleasant memories of what happened. Memories of hunger, of beatings, of lectures.

Of a pain that went right to his heart.

Yuffie frowned for a moment and then shook her head as she turned back to steer the ship to the right planet. "Probably just a coincidence. I mean, there's lots of worlds, it's not too unlikely that more than a few people have silver hair and yellow eyes."

"But to have him look like Terra? And somehow knowing Ven too?" Naminé crossed her arms and frowned. "One similarity is a coincidence. Two or three of them suggests a pattern."

Ventus clenched his eyes shut and sighed. "Why didn't I think of this before we left? We could have told—!"

"Hey. Listen. We figured it out now, right?" Yuffie cut him off as the ship entered the atmosphere. "We'll take care of this heartless issue real quick, then head right back." Gently guiding the ship, she brought it down on the edge of town.

"Yeah...yeah, you're right." Nodding, Ventus hastily unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way off the gummi ship. Grass rustled beneath his feet as he made his way onto the road leading into town."So. Where's the heartless?"

Naminé caught up to him, and began to look the town over."More importantly, where's everyone else?"

Coming up from behind, Yuffie scratched the back of her head in confusion. "Yeah, it's a bit late in the afternoon, you'd think there'd be more people out and about."

"They're hiding. As much as I wish they didn't need to." Though Ventus was surprised at the voice, it's gentle tone kept him from summoning his keyblade then and there. A few sparkles glimmered in the air, and slowly they gathered together into an older woman in a blue cloak.