Shattered Souls

by AvionVadion

Light begets darkness. There can not be one without the other. The Keepers of Hearts, the guardians of man and those of whose hearts have been lost... Irene and Maria are in for quite a surprise. When she was young Maria had went missing only to never been seen again, yet thirteen years later Irene gets a visit from a certain Organization. Kidnapped, she learns of her role...

11. Of Determination and Doubt

"I won't repeat myself."

I stared at Zexion in shock, mouth slightly agape as I processed what he said. Forget about nearly being experimented on- my organs are working? Or, rather, almost working?

"But… But how!?" I looked up at him with wide eyes, completely unmoving. "That's not- they can't be- what!?"

Zexion didn't falter in his typing, now using both of his hands as a strange array of images appeared in the screens. A multitude of them looked like DNA strands, another an outline of a human body, and a couple more resembling atoms. All had a large amount of paragraphs written beside them, too tiny for me to read from the angle I was laying at.

"I won't delve too deep into detail, but by combining science and magic we were able to alter specific strands of DNA. It not only expanded, but also strengthened your weakened organs. Once the last of the potion has went into your system," He pulled away from the keyboard shortly, gesturing to the I.V without looking, "you will be fully functional. You should already be able to tell a difference in your breathing."

"D-Diff-" I didn't finish, voice cutting off as I took notice of how breathless I was. It wasn't the breathless you get from a lack of oxygen, like if you had ran for five minutes straight without stopping, but more of there being too much air. My lungs hurt from the cold fresh air and I was a little dizzy from the overwhelming amount of oxygen, but as I sat there and just breathed I began to feel better with each passing second.

I can breathe. I-I can… I can breathe…?

"I-I don't… understand…" How? How am I breathing? How were they able to fix me? Though his back was turned to me, I stared at the back of his head intently and in confusion. He said they used magic and science, but no amount of science back home could have helped me. I shifted a little, only to freeze when I felt a light pull in my neck. Eyes moving, I gazed at the I.V Zexion pointed out earlier and followed the length of the cord, freezing when I realized that it connected to my neck.

There's a needle in my neck… I-I have a needle in my neck!?

By the fabrications of this universe and all that is good and holy- WHY is there a needle in my neck!? If I move too much will it pull something and kill me? I know Zexion said the potion that was meant to be helping me is being transferred through it, but why couldn't he had placed it in my arm!? Did I run out of veins to use? Couldn't he have had just taken one wire out!? Why not use a vein from my leg?

Eyes closing as I struggled to calm down and get used to the dizziness that came with so much fresh air, I tried to ignore the giant needle poking out of the curve of my neck. "W-Wait, so… so you actually f-found a way to… to fix me? A-And it's working?"

Zexion gave a simple nod, pressing a few more buttons. "Indeed."

Stunned, I just laid there, brain processing all that I had heard and was currently feeling as I breathed in fresh air. When I finally managed to relax and get my heart to a steady beat, I tried to focus on everything but the needle in my neck. Alright, so… there was the argument with Axel, because of that my anxiety acted up and caused me to panic, thus making me black out, a-and Zexion brought me here? Assuming it was him, at least… it was probably Lexaeus who carried me. But… it was definitely Zexion and… Vexen who was doing all the work.

I exhaled into the oxygen mask covering my face, thinking on that vision I saw. It had definitely been Maria in that scene and I knew it was her somehow, as if her heart had touched mine in some strange way. That woman, the angry and violent, fiery woman, is my Maria. My sister. The one who I always wanted to meet. I didn't understand why I had that vision or how, but she did something.

I just wish I knew what. Blinking a few times, completely forgetting the cheesy line I used on the cold-faced scientist when I first woke up, I asked curiously, "Wh… When will the, uh… "potion" be done?"

Walking back into the room, a pair of creepy black goggles on his face, Vexen looked down at me with a scowl. "One more day."

…

Axel stared at the girl curled up on the bed with brows drawn together, his shoulders tense and fists clenched. Seeing her, shaking and broken, eyes wide and unseeing as tremor after tremor wracked through her. It was terrifying. To have someone so strong and proud reduced to a petrified shell of themselves; it hit too close to home. And that made him angry.

Shutting the door behind him as he left the room, he glanced down the hall to see Xaldin leaning against the wall, arms crossed. A scowl settled on his face as he glared at the higher ranked member, "How long have you been there?"

"Since Demyx and I found you both missing only to have Vexen inform us of Maria's collapse." He informed, his tone heavy and cold as he shot his violet gaze towards the other. Eyes cold and unforgiving, "I do believe I recall telling you not to do anything rash."

"One minute she was fine and the next she was on the ground. I don't know what happened."

"You were supposed to watch her."

"You were supposed to help!" Axel snapped, turning to Xaldin with fury in his eyes, "All you do is talk and order me to watch her when you were the one who was supposed to! I was fine going about my own business and you just-!"

"Axel."

"No, this is all that Light Keeper's fault. If she would've just stopped panicking at every little thing, Maria would be conscious and none of this shit would be happening. I won't-!"

"Axel." Xaldin repeated, his tone fierce as a sharp gust of wind shot through the hall, causing Axel to take a step back out of reflex. With a sigh Xaldin continued, his tone not quite as harsh, "None of this could have been prevented. The Light's health was fading and Maria acted of her own accord. Her choices were her own." His eyes narrowed at the emerald orbs, seeing not but the rambunctious boy he once was, "This is not the Garden, Eight. You are no longer Lea. Lea had a heart."

With a scowl, Axel ran his hand through his hair, rubbing the back of his neck with a certain tenseness to him. A sense of unease settled deep in his bones at the memory. His voice was softer as he spoke, despite the coarse edge to it, "I know that."

"Then act as such." Xaldin scolded, folding his hands behind his back. "This needs to be handled. Delicately. If certain members hear word of this it will only cause trouble."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Came the snarky reply, Axel not bothering to hide the sneer from his voice.

Not bothering to acknowledge the obvious resentment, Xaldin informed the other of what was needed. "You will go to Lord Xemnas and tell him what has happened, as you are aware. Afterwards, send Zexion to do the same."

"Zexion? Why not Vexen?"

"When it comes to you and Vexen being in the same room, it is no secret that nothing gets done. If anyone saw what had happened to the Keepers, it would be Zexion."

Axel thought through Xaldin's words for a long moment before turning to leaves stopping just long enough to glare at the Lancer from the corner of his eye. Malice promised in his gaze, he growled, "You stay with her, and break anyone that tries to stop you."

"She has my guard, Axel."

The redhead scoffed at that; at the firm resolve that Xaldin thought he harbored. His shoulders set, he turned to walk down the hall, the weight of the lost worlds seeming to press down on Axel's slim shoulders. His words clipped and set to cut deeper than even Marluxia's blade.

"Let's hope for her sake that's enough this time."

With Axel's departure, Xaldin was left alone to revel at Axel's words. And at the accusations of his failure, only the echo of retreating footsteps left to ease his mind.

…

Two days was an aggravatingly long wait. Vexen said the I.V would take only one day, but neither he nor Zexion were willing to let me leave the lab until they were certain that my health wasn't going to deteriorate and the antigen they made didn't backfire. Luckily, nothing actually happened, but it was annoying just sitting there with nothing to do- Zexion constantly taking notes and checking my vitals. At one point during the end of the first day, he had left to do something and left me alone with Vexen.

Needless to say, not a lot happened other than me trying to avoid being cut open and experimented on. He didn't scare me as much anymore, but I did find his a little creepy. "So… you guys friends or something?"

"Do you want me to scalpel you? Be silent so I can focus on reconstructing my notes!"

I kept my mouth shut after that, something a little difficult considering I liked to talk, and so the rest of the day continued rather stressfully until Zexion returned. He didn't answer my questions as clearly as I would have liked, remaining as curt and witty as before. It was only when I brought up the subject of my earlier comment that I managed to get a proper response out of him.

"You know, if you think on it, Vexen is right about you being the farthest thing from an angel. The original descriptions of angels are quite terrifying." Zexion raised an eyebrow at that, lifting his gaze away from the clipboard he was writing on, and looked at me. "So~ that means if you were any mythological creature, you'd probably be a demon. Because demons are usually highly pretty and you're one of the prettiest people I've seen so far."

The scientist hummed in response, not really caring one way or another. "Aren't those on the side of the light normally depicted as ethereal? Why on your world are they written as horrors and demons beauty?"

"Um…" I thought on that, biting down on my bottom lip and knitting my eyebrows together. "Probably because demons are normally the bad guys. Takes the victim off guard- lures them into a… a false sense of security or something. But… But I don't think all demons are evil. They just have really crappy jobs and if you were stuck in a burning hellfire every day for eternity, I think anyone would go a little crackers."

"And angels?"

"Er… because truth is a harsh mistress?"

He stared at me, curiosity flickering in his eyes just briefly. "...I'm surprised you would say that."

"Well- have you ever read mythology?" Zexion gave me a blank stare and nodded his head as if I had asked an idiotic question. "Like- in greece! Greek and Roman mythology; Pluto/Hades is technically the eldest son, but he got last draw and was booted off Olympus to rule forever over the dead!"

Zexion's attention was very much caught now, his single blue eye narrowing and staring at me intensely as I spoke. It was a little unnerving, but at least he was listening fully now.

"If-If you were stuck with moaning, groaning ghosts all the time and an adorable three-headed dog that didn't get enough love, you'd be super miserable all the time! N-Not to mention you'd always have someone thwarting your plans, and your philanderer of a brother getting away bad mouthing you!"

"...By philanderer, are you perhaps speaking about the King of Olympus- Zeus?"

I blinked, dumbfounded. "Uh, yeah… who else?"

With that, Zexion flipped to another page on his clipboard and began writing, muttering to himself about how "interesting" this new information was. Did he lie to me when he said he read mythology? Rude.

A knock on the door interrupted out conversation. Zexion didn't bother looking, an almost distasteful expression forming, and he walked off to join Vexen around the corner with the other machines. I watched in confusion as the door opened, wondering if it was going to be Lexaeus, only to stare in shock and pleasant surprise when a familiar pink-haired person walked in.

"Marluxia~!" Excited, I pushed myself off the table only to freeze. I looked at Zexion nervously, wondering if it was alright to move, and sensing my stare he glanced at me and nodded. My grin returned and I charged at Marluxia again, skidding to a stop in front of him and awkwardly waving.

He chuckled, crossing an arm over his chest and giving his own wave. "Hello, Irene. Feeling any better?" At first, I thought he was talking about how I was experimented on, but then I remembered our last meeting and how I had brushed him away after I started crying. I flinched and brought a hand up, rubbing anxiously at my neck.

"Y-Yeah… I-I'm sorry…"

Marluxia smiled at those words, reaching up and patting me lightly on the head. "It's quite alright. Are you perhaps hungry? I trust the scientists haven't starved you…"

I almost jumped out of my skin when a nasally voice began to shout. Acid green eyes glared venomously at Marluxia, and the pink-haired beauty stared coldly at the dirty blond in response. "You insolent Number Eleven! I'll have you know that we had Lexaeus bring her meals daily! Now, if you have nothing to speak with us that is of importance… leave! Zexion and I have research to do!"

With a roll of the eyes, Marluxia placed a hand on my shoulder and began to guide me out of the room. I started to protest, but held my tongue as I didn't want to make Vexen angrier. If pushed, he probably would cut me open and prod at my organs with a stick. "To think you had to spend so long in here with them…" Marluxia sighed. "I pity you, Irene."

"H-Hah? Wh-Why? What's wrong with them?"

"Hm?" He acted surprised. "Do they not bother you?"

I shook my head, watching as he closed the door. "N-No… well, Vexen is a little scary, but I like Zexion. He's polite, but super sassy. It's great!" I beamed, before quickly growing excited. I waved my hands in the air, already able to feel the incredible and almost uncomfortable difference in my breathing. "O-Oh! Guess what!?"

"What?" He asked, looking rather amused as he watched me rock up-and-down on my toes.

"I-I can breathe!" Even though I knew it was so and I had said it out loud, I still found it difficult to believe. I can feel the difference in my chest, in my body, and the way I inhaled the air around me. It was cold, almost suffocatingly so due to just how much of the oxygen there was for me inhale, but also welcoming. "I… I can breathe…"

My voice cracked and I blinked rapidly, fighting against the tears as I swallowed down the lump in my throat and pressed a hand against my suddenly aching chest. I-... A part of me is happy, b-but at the same time… I was starting to feel guilty. I was better, but what about my father? He was ill, too. It wasn't fair that I was the only one who got better. His condition was far worse than mine.

"...Zexion and Vexen, th-they… they did something to fix my lungs," I choked, my bubbly demeanor dying down to something more solemn. "I-I don't know what, exactly, but… they fixed me."

"Did they? That's a good thing, isn't it? Why are you acting as if you're distraught over it?"

Bring a hand up and ruffling my hair, I gave an awkward shrug as I looked away. "I-I'm not," I diverted, not really certain as to how I felt, "it's just… hard to process."

"As is everything else about your new life, it seems," Marluxia mused, bring a hand up to his chin thoughtfully. I made a face at his words, knowing he was referring to our conversation a few days ago. Marluxia continued, "Well, no matter; I'm sure you'll get used to it. Now, shall we head out?"

"A-Actually…" I've been surrounded by guards since I got here. I've been cooped up in a lab for three days and as much as I like Marluxia I really didn't want to be around him or anyone else right now. "Um… c-can I wander for a bit?"

Marluxia hummed to himself, crossing his arms. "Well, I suppose we can take a detour… I won't force you to eat. Would you care to see the garden I've been nurturing?"

That… wasn't what I meant. I opened my mouth to explain that I wanted to be alone, but upon realizing that would be my second time pushing him away I found myself remaining silent. I gave a timid nod instead, grabbing onto my scab-covered arms. Even if I wasn't allowed to leave the lab, I was able to change clothes and shower. Zexion had only went to one of my parents houses, so I didn't have as many long sleeves as usual. My arms felt bare and naked in the short-sleeves I was wearing.

"S-Sure…"

The pink-haired man smiled down at me, extending a hand out towards me. I looked at it in confusion, only to have realization smack me in the face. "Shall we go?" I hesitated before reaching forward, latching onto his sleeve rather than grabbing his hand. He was briefly stunned. Then a smirk slowly wormed onto his lips, as if intrigued or amused. "You really are a timid little rabbit, aren't you?"

"I-I'm not-I'm not that timid… I think." Was I really? I know I could be awkward or quiet at times, but timid? I knit my eyebrows together, thinking hard on it and trying to psychoanalyze myself. "I don't know… hm. Weird. A-Anyway- to the flowers!" I pointed forward, trying to change the topic.

Marluxia shook his head in response to my action, but didn't hesitate in walking forward and leading the way to the garden.

...

Two days. It had been two days since everything had happened. Two days since Maria had chose to dive into that stupid kid's heart. Two days since she pulled the darkness from her very core. And two days since she remembered that.

Bright hazel eyes staring in wonder; the worlds at her fingertips with the promise of heroism, of the chance to explore, to save the Worlds. Of kindly spoken words shared through lies and deception to nothing more than a child. A child too eager to be of use to understand the falseness of those words. Too eager to please, to help, to learn.

And learn she did.

Learn of the falseness of half spoken promises. To learn that no matter how many times she ran off, she would always be dragged back. Of how they never intended to let her return home, even to visit. Of how she never learned the name of her home world and could never find it again. Of how she was a tool to be used. A weapon to be sharpened. And a fighter trained to kill.

Maria knew all of these things. And yet that same memory, that same lie she had buried at the back of her mind pushed its way forward. Playing over and over, asleep or awake. It was driving her mad.

Add to that the fact that she wasn't allowed to leave her room for those two days given her previous catatonic state. One could say she was going crazy. Or at the very least, increasingly angry.

And Maria was well acquainted with anger.

Pushing herself up off the windowsill she had deemed as her perch for the past two days, she strode over to the door with quick determined steps. Eyes set with determination and resolve. She was getting out of this room and not even the so-called Kingdom Hearts itself would stop her. With a rough yank, she jerked the door open; startling her keeper of the hour from the sudden movement, if only for a moment.

Xaldin turned to her, looking her over and taking note of her appearance. The thick red sweater with the zipper up the side, covering her small form and denoting the rage she so easily possessed. He stared down at her, arms folded neatly behind his back, "I see you are moving now. Is there something you need?"

"I need out of this god damn room before I murder you all." She said as she made to move past him.

The sharp jut of a black clad arm shot out in front of her, blocking her from moving past him, "The Superior has not yet agreed to your leaving. He requests you rest before moving about."

"I've been resting for two days. If you keep me locked up in here I will either go crazy and kill all of you or you'll be stuck trying to find another Keeper of Darkness." She stated through a growl, hazel eyes filling with flecks of crimson as she stared him down, "I like you, Xaldin. But either move or be moved."

"You think you could challenge me- given all that has happened?"

"I've been made to rest for days and now that the kid is set and good I'm at the top of my game." She stepped up to him, crowding into his personal space as red and violet clashed in a heated stare despite the obvious height difference. Her tone was harsh and final as she spoke, leaving no room for mistaking her earlier threat, "Move."

Xaldin held his ground, looking over the fury before him, fingers twitching ever so slightly in expectation. Lord Xemnas had said he wished her to rest. I suppose there is only one way to test it. He thought as he flexed his hand, a sharp wind shooting between them before rushing against the smaller elemental.

But Maria was ready for it. Using the wind as fuel, she set it ablaze in crimson fire. The heat not even registering on her skin as she pushed forward, shoving her shoulder roughly into Xaldin's torso to force him back. Using his sudden surprise at the flames to her advantage.

He quickly regained his footing, grabbing Maria's arm as she made to slip around him. Pulling sharply before flinging her against the opposing wall.

"Perhaps you should think before charging-?" Began the Lancer, only to have a lithe body tackle him. Maria, having turned from the momentum of Xaldin's throw and planted her feet on the wall, jumped forward, wrapping her arms around him and forcing him back. The sudden added weight causing the now top-heavy guard to fall flat on his back.

A determined Maria now sitting atop his abdomen; one foot braced on his right wrist to keep him from summoning his lance, while her hands held her swords against his neck, hovering there with a fierce resolve. He stared up at her, face unchanging as he took in the red of her eyes, the smooth masked expression of indifference despite the fury of her gaze. Maria was one set to kill if needed, but she held. Proving her point and passing Xaldin's test all in one.

"I believe the Superior's worry over you is unneeded." Came the smooth remark from the Lancer. Eyes never leaving her blazing gaze.

"Is that why there's a lance pressed to my back?" She remarked with a slight tilt of her head. A long tipped lance hovered behind the Firestarter, its point braced between her shoulder blades, ready to drive through if needed.

That made Xaldin smirk, "One can never be too careful when fighting an unknown enemy. Anyone can exploit a weakness but few can turn that into an advantage."

"In this scenario, I don't think either of us managed that."

"No. But you proved your point." He said as he moved his free hand, the lance vanishing, "Now, would you mind releasing your hold? As much as I might enjoy the look of a fine blade, this is a bit too close to be considered comfortable."

With a huff, Maria let her sword vanish, releasing Xaldin's trapped wrist as well as she made to stand up, "I suppose that's true. Now are you going to let me move?"

"I believe you've earned the right to do so. But as I'm sure you are aware, you will be followed." Came the curt response. Sitting up and brushing his long onyx strands back over his shoulder.

"Like anything else in my life is new." She muttered, leaning over to offer a hand to him.

Arching a brow, he took the offered help, pulling just a bit harder than needed to get to his feet. Grinning as he noticed Maria shift positions to accommodate for the added force and weight.

"Ass." She breathed, although the heat had left her tone. Hazel eyes turned to glance up at him, a small barely-there smile gracing her lips.

"So Axel has so accused me of. Now then, shall we?" the question was matched with a subtle wave of his arm towards the open corridor, offering Maria the option to choose their destination.

"Alright." And with that, they went- heading into the castle for a much needed change of scenery.

…

I've never seen so many flowers before in my life. Holy flubber mongrels...

To say Marluxia's garden was beautiful felt like such an understatement. There was honestly no real way to put the sheer amount of beauty in front of me into words. It was just...breathtaking.

Despite knowing that we were inside, the room felt like an outdoor paradise. The walls of the room arched high above us into a dome-esque shape. The ceiling and walls painted in soft blue hues as though to mimic the sky; with a bright shining light casting warmth and sunshine throughout the room.

It could be magic. Probably magic. Okay, given everything that's happened here in this… world… it definitely had to be magic.

The room was laid out as though a courtyard; with soft grey cobble-styled walkways reaching across the room. Dozens of large sections cut out of the the ground and into flower beds spread across the circular room. Each flower bed seemed to contain flowers from completely different countries - no, worlds.

Roses, hydrangeas, lilies, and carnations; everything that seemed to be from home all gathered in one section. Things that looked like venus fly traps and other dangerous looking flowers sat on the other side of the main isle- all sharp thorns and jagged leaves. Another held pink vines curling up the wall with icy blue flowers budding from them, frost coating their petals. Streams of water cut through the walkways and into the flowerbeds in intertwining patterns. Everything, from wall to wall, flower bed to flower bed, was covered in an array of color and light.

It was like a dream. A beautiful, radiant dream that wished to pull me into its arms and lull me to sleep amongst the petals. Awe and perfection rolling through my mind at the sheer sight of it.

"This… is your garden?" It took everything I had to get the words out, staring at the scenery around us. Marluxia smirked, as if proud by his achievements. He placed a hand on my back and pushed me forward lightly, urging me to look around.

"Of course. I tend to it whenever I can- though, a lot of it is simply a manifestation of my magic. If something happens to me, the flowers and other plants will react as well. If I'm injured they will wilt, and if I'm thriving the flowers will bloom beautifully."

I gazed around in silence, stunned by the magic surrounding me. The venus fly traps and other carnivorous-looking plants creeped me out a little, but the flowers… "I-I can't believe this is a garden. A-Are you sure we didn't walk into a different dimension?" I turned around, walking in a circle as I headed farther into the room. My bare feet hit the cobblestone walkway, Marluxia following behind slowly and watching as I reacted. "Oh my god… you made this? A-All of this? Marluxia, this is… this is amazing! I-I can't- I can't even describe-"

I cut myself off, stopping briefly to kneel down and look at the mixture of camellias, roses, and carnations. Not far off were a mixture of white lilies and bright red spider lilies. I hesitated, scared of hurting the flower, before reaching forward and gently touching one of the red petals on a camellia.

I've never been so overwhelmed by beauty before, but… this? This garden? The flowers, the walkway, the ceiling, the streams of water- everything was just so unbelievable and fantastic and breathtaking. My eyes watered a little, the emotions piling up and nearly crushing me. "I-It's so lovely…"

"Lovely?" He echoed, sounding a little amused. "Judging by your reaction, you're quite happy with this place, aren't you?"

I pulled my hand away from the flower, folding it in my lap, and nodded silently. This place was beautiful and overwhelming, and while it calmed me and relaxed my nerves it also brought back all the pain and hurt I had been feeling earlier. It was a contradictory feeling, one I didn't really understand, but while it did bring back the aching it seemed to bring so much relief.

Flowers, blooming peacefully and beautifully… thriving in such a desolate castle like this one. It wasn't a miracle… no. It was magic. Magic did this. Marluxia's magic. He created all of this. There was no way I could deny it anymore- magic was real and so was this castle. This garden, the "Nobodies", everything that's happening… it was real.

And while the flowers soothed me, the knowledge that I was living in reality hurt far more than anything else so far. Inhaling deeply, I let out a shaky breath, closing my eyes as I lowered my head. "...Thank you… Marluxia."

My voice was soft as I spoke, barely even audible, but Marluxia heard me. He stared down at me with an unreadable face, before nodding his and crossing his arms. "But of course. I said you could talk to me about anything, didn't I? I'm here for you…"

…

But was he really? She was so easy to trick, to deceive, to manipulate. As long as he plastered a smile on his face and said sweet words, Irene followed along without hesitation. Having learned of her fascination with flowers, Marluxia thought it would be best to show her his garden. It looked like Eden to all who walked in, or perhaps a hell to those who were allergic and despised flowers, but for Irene…

It would be her prison. He needed to isolate her from the other members and what other way than to lure her somewhere she would enjoy? Marluxia needed time to befriend her, to get her to work for him against the rest of the Organization when it was time. For that, he needed to act-

He needed her to trust him.

…

I didn't say anything in response to his words; I didn't know how to. What could I even say? He's been so nice to me since the beginning and all I ever did was push him away. I was jerk. I opened my eyes, looking down at the flowers with a new emotion- guilt.

Pulling my legs up to my chest as I sat down completely, I curled into a small ball and rested my chin on my arms, sniffling a little. "I… I'm sorry, Marluxia…" I really didn't want to talk about anything right now, but I felt as though I had to apologize. I couldn't stand being around him any longer without doing so. "I... all you've done is… is be so nice to me a-and I just pushed you away. I-I'm so sorry…"

I couldn't see him, but there was a moment of silence before I could hear his footsteps. A gloved hand rested on my shoulder and I looked up, almost scared to see his facial expression, only to have my eyes widen in shock at the single white daisy being held out to me. Marluxia wasn't smiling, but he wasn't exactly upset either. "Do not fret, Irene… that was all in the past. Now, we are in the garden… and everything is forgiven."

E-Everything…? I blinked when he tucked the daisy behind my left ear, my bangs keeping it from falling, and I watched as he stood and extended a hand out to me once more. I stared at it for a split second, wondering if he truly forgave me, before accepting the gesture and allowing him to help pull me back up onto my feet. I looked down and then back up, offering a small smile. "Th… Thanks for bringing me here. The garden's really pretty."

He chuckled. "But of course. You're free to come here anytime." With a smirk, Marluxia gestured to one of the paths ahead of us. "Would you like a tour?"

Any sad emotions I had been feeling earlier quickly vanished, now replaced with excitement as I waved my hands excitedly in the air before clapping them and holding them up to my mouth in an attempt to calm down. "Yes, yes, yes! Please?"

Needless to say, a couple hours flew by quick as Marluxia showed me around the garden, explaining to me the different species of flowers and how he came to learn of their existence. It was here that I told Marluxia about my favorite flower, the "Forget-Me-Not", and how I loved the color and symbolism it possessed. He proceeded to guide to the area where the blue flowers rested, and I was left to admire the garden once more.

Unfortunately, not long after I started to grow hungry and it wasn't until my stomach started to rumble loudly that we decided to leave and head to the kitchen.

It was surprisingly vacant, but after snagging another poptart- and getting a comment from Marluxia on how that seemed to be the only thing he ever saw me eat- we went back into the hallway to just wander. An idea came to me, as I was growing curious about my stamina now that my lungs were apparently perfectly healthy, and I looked up at the tall pink-haired man.

Everything's forgiven, so it should be okay to ask if I can wander by myself… but I'm also really curious now.

"Hey, Marluxia? How fast a runner are you?"

He hummed, surprised at the question as he looked down at me. A really stupid grin was spread across my face. Marluxia raised an eyebrow, wondering what I was smiling like that for. "I'm rather fast. I am the Graceful Assassin, after all."

"You're an assassin!?" I didn't bother hiding my shock. "Wh-What!? But… But you're so nice!"

"So I may appear, but given the order I will not hesitate to take down my target." With a confident smirk, he reached forward. I leaned back, cringing and scrunching up my face when his fingers neared my face. Next thing I knew, I was flicked in the forehead and ended up stumbling back. "Like so."

I scowled at him, rubbing the new wound on my face, but the amusement failed to disappear. "Rude. Okay- so, you're super fast, right?" He nodded. Acting as though I had no evil plan in mind, I moved closer and poked his arm. Marluxia stared. Then, without warning, I told him, "You're it," as calmly as I could and took off running down the hallway.

Needless to say, I think I got the upperhand there. He didn't really seem like the kind of person to chase after others, so I was rather hoping he didn't actually follow me because I did want to spend some time alone. I've had so much people interaction this week I needed time to unwind.

Looking over my shoulder as I ran, I grew relieved when I saw him just casually strolling the hallway, as if too lazy to run after me. Victory is mine~! Wow, I'm still running… this is weird. It would normally start to hurt by now.

There was the slightest bit of breathlessness, but my chest didn't burn or ache. I wasn't aware I had this much stamina. A mixture of emotions building up inside of me at this revelation and how my lungs really were functional, Jumping a little as I turned a corner, I slowed down only when I came across a staircase.

It looked an awful lot like the staircase Lexaeus and I had been on, but then again everything in this castle looked the same. Except the garden… the garden was fantastic.

Once I managed to finish heading up the staircase, I broke out into another run.

It was when I started to head down a very familiar hallway that I came to dead stop, frozen by the figures swerving about in the air ahead of me. Th… Those look like the same one Lexaeus destroyed earlier… Dusks. M-Maybe if I just back away slowly they won't-

They all stopped moving, zipped-mouth faces turning to look at me.

Welp, I'm dead. Goodbye world.

Almost scared to move, I slid my right foot back to see if they would react. Nothing. Another step… and again… and… they dove to the ground and started moving in my direction with incredible speed. Fear striking my heart I burst into another dash, a small scream escaping when one dusk suddenly launched itself out of the ground and at me. Another followed shortly after and I skidded sideways, lips curling back as I ground my teeth together tightly.

Crap! Oh gods- no!

One of their blade-like arms hit the back of my leg and sent me falling. I tried to roll out of the way, but the third dusk blocked my escape and the other four flanked me, keeping me from escaping as they hovered about and around me.

S-Somebody… please… I stared fearfully at the one in front of me, praying that it would just leave me alone. I was too scared to speak. The dusks didn't move to hurt, not yet at least, just hovering and doing their weird wiggling movement as they stood there. After a minute of that, I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around at them, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Are… Are they not going to attack?

"C… Can you guys move, please?"

They remained unmoving for a few seconds before slowly shifting, moving almost like ribbons in the air as they created an opening. I… It actually worked? They're listening? What? Blinking in confusion, I stood and awkwardly stepped away from them, looking behind me to see if Marluxia had caught up yet and then at them.

"A-Alrighty then… um, thank you?" They continued to swerve through the air. I nodded awkwardly, wondering if they actually understood me or not, and made a weird effort of waving my arms in the air in an attempt to communicate with them. "Can you understand me~?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when one proceeded to fly around me before latching onto my shoulders. I stopped waving my arms and leaned my head back, looking at the odd creature now attached to me.

"...Hi?"

Maybe they could… hm. Well, I had some alone time so I guess it's fine. Was Demyx still in the castle? I focused on the dusks still swerving and wiggling in the air, making a strange face as I watched them.

"Do you think you guys could slow down Marluxia a little longer? And-uh," I turned my gaze to the one on my shoulder, "do you know if Demyx is in the castle?"

The dusks moved so fast there was a gust of wind, the one around my shoulders shooting off from around my neck and cutting my cheek with its foot accidentally as it flew forward, the others sinking into the ground and heading in the direction I came from. Shaking my head with raised eyebrows at the situation, I ruffled my hair and took after the dusk in front of me.

"O-Okay, charging. Got it!"

…

When we got close to the lounge, I could hear music. The beautiful, familiar music of a sitar. The dusk had slowed enough to where I could follow it by walking, and when I peered into the room I had first arrived in I was surprised to see Saix standing silently in a corner and Demyx playing away on the couch he was on, looking rather apathetic and uncaring about life.

No hearts… right… okay. I stepped forward, ready to talk to Demyx, only to freeze. The last time I saw Demyx was when everyone made the comment about me and Maria… I got mad at Xigbar and when Demyx tried to help… God freaking- why can't I make friends in this dumb place? I keep acting like a jerk.

The dusk, instead of stopping now that I had arrived and found Demyx, continued to swerve into the room until it neared the blond. He paused in his strumming, staring blankly at the dusk before confusion etched across his face. "What? H-Hey, stop moving- what are you doing!?"

It dove into the ground and moved over to me, Demyx following it with his eyes. Seeing me and how the dusk perched itself onto my shoulder, he froze and stared on in shock. Saix was watching from the background, quietly observing. I gave a timid wave, offering a small grin in Demyx's direction.

The sitar faded in his hands, the blond standing up. "W-Weren't you in the lab? Why is the dusk attached to you!? What's going on?"

"I… I don't really know, to be honest. Um, Zexion and Vexen fixed me up, so I stayed there for a while, and then Marluxia came to pick me up and we hung out for a while. So after a few hours passed and we got food, I poked him in the arm and ran for it. That's when I ran into this guy and his buddies." I pointed at the dusk, a curious idea hitting me as I looked at it. Tentatively reaching out, I placed a hand on the top of its head and began to pet it.

It felt really weird. It was like soft metal- easy to cut with enough force, but still difficult to break.

"Thought they were going to attack me like the one with Lexaeus did, but… they just kinda hovered around me. So I sent the others to slow down Marluxia and had this guy look for you."

"You…" Demyx's eyes were wide, completely disbelieving, and he walked over with slumped shoulders, gesturing to the dusk in shock. "You can control the dusks? They listen to you?"

"No idea!"

"I thought only the Keeper of Darkness could control things…" He muttered, eying the creature oddly. "Keepers of Darkness are literally complete darkness, so they have a certain amount of control over weak Heartless, but Zexion and Vexen never said anything about the Keeper of Light being able to control Dusks…"

Demyx suddenly shook his hand, waving his hands in the air.

"No, no, no, no, no! Forget that! Why are you even talking to me? I thought you were mad at me?"

"Th-That… I wasn't mad at you, Demyx." I explained, lowering my head at the horrible memory. "I-I was mad at Xigbar and myself a-and… and I took it out on you. I'm sorry…"

Demyx stared down at me for a long moment. I shifted uncomfortably underneath his gaze, the dusk releasing itself from my shoulders and slinking towards the ground. I curled my hands into fists to avoid fiddling with my fingers, my sleeves too short to tug and twist, and I waited in stressful silence for him to respond.

When he finally spoke, my heart almost gave out in relief. "I forgive you... But you have to listen to me rant about how much of a jerk Xigbar's been since you left!"

I laughed, grinning widely, and nodded. "Fair enough."

With that said, we headed towards the couch and sat down, Demyx ranting in annoyance of how Xigbar kept bullying him. He paused only once, confusion flickering in his eyes, before he shook his head and continued to ramble. Before long, his sitar was back in his lap and I was listening to him play.

...

Axel had just made it back to the castle; having been sent on a small recon mission by Saix while the Keepers were recovering. Running a hand through the hair on the back of his head, he sighed.

"Man, oh man. He's gonna run me ragged one of these days." Muttered the redhead before he heard voices coming from down the hall. Strange, as the others usually didn't travel down this section of the Castle like Axel did. It made him curious. Curiosity had always been one of his downfalls after all. He took off at a leisurely pace, taking his time to close the distance between him and the mystery voices. Finally getting close enough to distinguish who it was; and that who surprised him greatly.

"You know, you'd actually be a good training partner." Came the confident voice. All brash pride and confidence.

"Lexaeus has often remarked on my skills in battle."

"I'm assuming that's because you're both walking towers."

A pause, and then- "I believe you are remarking on our height?"

A bright laugh echoed then, one Axel remembered from their trip to Traverse Town. A laugh he thought he wouldn't hear again for sometime.

"Something like that. Honestly, all of the Organization is tall. Like, creepily so. The only one who isn't so far is Zexion? I think that's what Axel said his name was."

"He is still but a child." Replied the stern voice.

Gritting his teeth at that comment, moving to lean against the wall where one hall met the other, Axel felt his jaw twitch in irritation. No one is a child anymore; especially not in the Organization. Least of all Zexion.

…

"No one is a child. That idea is nothing more than fantasy." Came Maria's cold reply to Xaldin's words. The words tasted ashen in her mouth. She knew what she said was true; the moment magic and other worlds become part of your life, childhood innocence is gone. Everything is brought into a war of right and wrong, light and dark. And even though she had fought on the side of Light, she was still darkness. And they had never let her forget it.

"Child in mind, no. But he is still young. I believe he is not much older than the Keeper of Light." Xaldin stated calmly, as if stating a simple well-known fact.

She shook her head, thinking for a long moment before slowing down and looking up at him. Head cocked to the side curiously, "Hey, Xaldin."

Stopping, he turned halfway to face her, brows drawn up lightly, "Yes, Maria."

"Our fight back there. Were you actually trying or were you holding back?"

Xaldin regarded her for a long moment, contemplating lying to make her feel better or telling the truth. He opted for the latter, "No. I was not fighting at full strength."

"So you let me take you down?"

"Yes."

Hazel eyes searched violet ones, seeming to look for something. Whatever it was she had been searching for, Xaldin believed her to have found it given the small smile she tried to hide before she continued to walk once more. Her stride much more at ease now than before.

"Next time we fight, no holding back. I want to see what a Whirlwind can actually do."

A smirk graced his face then, only a tad smug as he made off down the hall, "If we were to fight as such, you would be felled in a matter of minutes."

"Why Xaldin, I didn't know you were such a tease." Maria chided, feigning bashfulness until Xaldin sent her a scandalized look. A bright laugh leaving her again, "Man, your face! God, Axel would of loved to see that."

She managed through her small fit of laughter; feeling at ease for the first time in days. One thing Maria was slowly realizing was how easily she could relax around the two nobodies. A strange thing in and of itself; she chalked it up to their similar affinities. Not wishing to look too deeply into that thought.

Quickly composing himself once more, the Lancer brushed off the previous comment. Looking straight ahead. He felt a familiar presence as they neared another hall, noting the silent heat that sat beyond it. Walking past the hall, not bothering to even look down it, he already knew who was waiting.

"Axel." came the short yet curt greeting as they passed. That one name made Maria perk up, stopping to look down the hall and spotting the all to familiar redhead.

"Axel!" She called as she moved past Xaldin and into the adjoining hall to stand in front of the taller firestarter. She stared up at him, purposefully ignoring the tense set of his shoulders and the stiffly crossed arms. "You ass. You left me locked up for two days."

Huffing, the redhead cast acidic green eyes towards hers. Relaxing faintly at finally seeing her now that she wasn't a collapsed mess. Her hazel eyes bright and playful, skin flushed instead of the sickly pallor of before. He had to admit, the new clothes fit her much better than Larxene's old ones.

"It's not like I chose to leave you there. Saix sent me off on a mission for Xemnas."

She blinked at him, as if trying to register the name to a face in her memory and falling short. He noticed then that she tended to bite her bottom lip when deep in thought, "Saix...is he the blue haired one? With the scar?"

He stared a moment too long. Shaking his head to clear it before running a hand through his hair, placing the other on his hip, "Yeah. That's him. He's the one who made you stop after you took out Zexion and Marluxia."

"Saix." She repeated, testing the name and filing it away for when she needed it, "What's his number?"

"Seven." Xaldin chimed in, stepping up behind the brunette, "He is called the Lunar Diviner."

"Seven." Realization dawned on her as she turned back to Axel, pointing at him, "Eight. Did you two join at the same time?"

Axel's eyes flicked up to Xaldin at that. A pain he knew should be there, but not quite registering filling his chest. The need to have that emotion playing in his head before shrugging it off and looking back down to the hazel eyed girl, "Yeah. Something like that. Saix joined up first, so I got the Eighth slot."

Maria nodded, noticing how Axel hesitated before replying. Taking pity on the man, she opted for a different approach, "That's kinda a relief he beat you to it. Eight was always one of my lucky numbers." She breathed with a smile, shoving her hands in her back pockets. The two men stared at her as she moved to head down the hall again, heading where she remembered Lexaeus said the lounge was.

"Did she just…?" Axel started, gaping at Maria's retreating back as he tried to process what it was she meant.

"I believe she is growing fond of you." Xaldin informed, watching her as well.

"But what the hell did she mean?"

"Are you two coming or not?" Maria called, leaning forward even as she balanced on her heels, "I swear I'll leave you both. Go 'Keeper gone Rouge'. I bet your Superior would be thrilled." She threatened. However it lost its bite given the wide smirk on her face.

Axel's face fell into a blank unimpressed stare, "She's fucking with us."

"It would appear so." The Lancer agreed.

Axel glanced over at the taller man, a smirk slowly spreading across his features, "Hey, Xaldin?"

A sigh escaped him, heavy and bracing for what was no doubt about to happen, "Yes, Axel?"

"You ever catch a solar flare?"

"Have I what-?" Xaldin began, confused, before Axel burst into a rage of fire and heat. Maria having overheard and done the same as the firestarters took off down the hall as fast as they could, their laughter echoing in the halls.

Xaldin, having had to raise his arm to block the worst of the heat from his face, grit his teeth. A deep scowl settling over his face, his voice was a loud deep rumble of annoyance, "You Insufferable-!"

…

Luxord looked up from his mug as a loud yell echoed through the castle, followed by the faint feeling of heat. He glanced towards the direction he assumed the yell had come from. Blonde brow perfectly arched, "Who's gone and upset Xaldin now? Don't they know better than to anger a hurricane?"

A laughed sounded then, causing Luxord to look over to Xigbar. Seeing the Freeshooter lounged back, balancing his chair on two legs, his feet propped up on the table. "Nah, dude's with the Dark one today. Plus, Axel came back. Those two are hot headed fools." He laughed again, making finger guns as he pointed them at Luxord, grinning widely, "Bet they're up to no good and Xaldin's stuck in the middle." He made a 'pew pew' sound as he pretended to fire at his blonde companion. Grin still plastered to his face.

"Hm. She has seemed to have grown quite fond of Axel. Perhaps it is his fire?"

"Whatever it is, Xaldin's gonna let 'em have it! I'd pay to see that."

"And what do you think he would do?" Questioned Luxord, taking a sip from his mug.

"What do you think? Short of dusk'ing them, Xaldin's gonna rip 'em a new one."

A grin finally found its way to Luxord's face. His Gambler showing through, "Perhaps we could wager on it?"

Xigbar laughed so hard he had to grip his abdomen. Finally controlling himself enough to look the Brit in the eye, his expression now the epitome of serious, he said, "You're out of your goddamn mind."

…

As they neared the lounge, Xaldin strode forward, rubbing his temples with closed eyes, muttering about fire users and their insufferable habit of finding each and every one of his nerves and nearly driving him mad.

Axel and Maria strode a few paces behind him, Maria rubbing the side of her head as Axel kept his hands on the back of his, hunched over slightly as if trying to protect his head from another blow.

Hazel eyes glanced at Axel, voice pitched soft, "Maybe we shouldn't try to prank Xaldin…"

"Nah. Whatever gave you that idea?" Axel snarked, huffing slightly as he cast his own glance down to her.

"Not sure. Maybe that fact that you're head is even harder than mine?"

"Don't go pinning this on me. You started this."

"Me?" Maria recoiled, brows raised, "I pulled that shit with you! You're the one that decided to try it on the tower."

"You tried to-"

"Enough." Xaldin cut in, his tone leaving no room for arguments. "Or do I need remind you of what should happen if you do not behave?"

The fire starters quickly stood straight backed, tensing as they remembered all too fondly of Xaldin's wrath. Their skulls still ached from when he had caught them and slammed their heads together. "Sorry Xaldin." Came the unison reply.

The lancer sighed as they came into the lounge, muttering under his breath again.

As they came into the room, Axel took note of the soft tone of music in the air that was accompanied by pleased voices. Seeing Demyx playing his sitar while talking to Irene, her back to the group, Axel moved his gaze away and took the time to notice Saix standing over in his usual spot, going over reports like always. Only Axel knew better- and he knew that Saix was silently observing everything going on around him, even with his eyes never leaving the reports.

"Looks like everyone is taking a day off." Axel commented, moving to cross his arms in front of his chest again. He saw Xaldin looking down at Maria and turned his attention to the hazel eyed fury as well, seeing how tense her posture had become compared to their earlier easy-going camaraderie. Her shoulders were drawn taut, jaw clenched, and fists curled. Some of the color Axel had seen back in her face was gone now. Replaced by the ashen look of dread. Stepping up closer to her, he followed her wide eyed gaze. Hazel orbs focused on only one thing: the excited Light Keeper, squealing in delight with Demyx.

...

The conversation had been going rather pleasantly, Xigbar going further and further up on my smiting list. He had already creeped me out before, not to mention how much of a jerk he was about kidnapping me, but I was starting to like him less and less the more I found out about him. I was surprised how easily Demyx played and talked at the same time.

"So, what you're telling me is that Marluxia showed you around his garden… without threatening you, and Zexion and Vexen fixed your inner organs?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, pretty much… and Marluxia's never threatened me." I made a face, eyebrows knitting together as I recalled Lexaeus' words. He's not what he seems… but no one here is what they seem. Heck, I'M not what I seemed. I'm not sure how to deal with his warnings, of how the people I got along with were two-faced, but while I wanted to ignore them they bothered me a little. "I know a lot of people in the Organization aren't very nice… but still."

I don't want to focus on the warnings. I remembered the memory I saw, the memory of the girl speaking with what appeared to be Mickey Mouse, but I wasn't going to trust that because I was ill and he's a freaking Disney character. It was probably some creep dressed as him and the little girl believed it to be the mouse and that's what I saw. She was kidnapped by that man, probably used and abused, and that's why she's so angry now… of course, how was I even certain that it was Maria in the first place? It could have just been a dream.

But If I focused on the warnings Lexaeus gave me... I would go insane. I would become intensely paranoid about the Organization's plans and if they really were "protecting" me. I didn't want to think about it, but even Demyx could be lying to me right now- to make it easier for the Organization to do to me what that person had done to Maria. I wanted to trust what I was being told, even if it felt off.

Because people without hearts… who are apparently stealing hearts to create a thing called "Kingdom Hearts"... want a heart of their own. And even if they plan to use me somehow, I want to do it believing we're friends. I don't want to be a weapon or… or tool. I don't know the full extent of my "abilities" that I supposedly had, but I don't want to use them to hurt people.

"I want to help."

Demyx paused, staring down at me with startled eyes. "Help with what?" I sunk down in my seat at that question, pulling my knees up to my chest as I thought about how to answer.

"I… I don't know. Everyone's saying I have these powers, a-and… and I hurt Vexen earlier because I somehow burned him. I-I was just scared, but I… I hurt him. I don't want to hurt people, Demyx. I don't want to hurt anyone. I-If there's a way I can use the "powers" everyone's saying I have, and if I can use them without causing harm, I… I want to help." I turned my head, looking up at him with teary eyes. "I want to help you and everyone else get your hearts back."

He didn't say anything, merely wide-eyed and stunned. Demyx cleared his throat and looked away, a strange smile on his face. "You shouldn't tell that to me. I couldn't teach you anything even if you said that nine times. Zexion or Luxord could probably help- they're more adept in magic than I am, and the Keeper of Light is supposed to use mainly magic… all I'm good at is summoning water clones and jets of water. Wanna see?"

"You can summon clones!?" All solemness was gone, now replaced with excitement. "Yes!"

…

Xaldin's watchful stare never left Maria. He took in everything; from her tight posture and ashen face to the way she bit her bottom lip in thought, her right hand having moved to grip tightly at her left arm. Nails digging into the soft fabric. For such a strong willed woman, she seemed more like a frightened rabbit ready to run. It was perplexing yet intriguing how one child - a child who had had near to no interaction with her - could make her come so undone. It was a weakness. A weakness he was sure Xemnas would exploit if learned. And if Xaldin had learned anything in his life, it was that nothing good would come of weakness.

He noticed how Axel had moved towards her; hand hovering just over her shoulder. As if wanting to touch, to reassure her but not knowing how to do so. Lacking the feeling to do so. Xaldin saw the change in their young companion before the Flurry did. How her eyes lit up with determination. Her posture relaxed from its tense state to a more proud, focused poise.

"Maria-" Axel has began quietly just as the Keeper stepped forward, Axel's hand falling just short of her. He stared at it as if he was not sure it was there; or of what he had meant to do with it. Instead, he shook his head. Bringing his attention back to the auburn beauty. Seeing her take a few more determined steps into the room. Even gaining the full attention of Saix.

"Hey, Kid." She called loudly. Making sure to be heard over Irene and Demyx's excited conversation.

The water Nobody jumped, turning his head timidly towards the auburn fury, "Oh shit…"

Maria placed both hands determinedly on her hips, gaze never leaving the mop of brown hair that was Irene, "I'm talking to you." She said, louder now. Her voice taking on a very slight rougher edge.

Twitching, Irene turned towards her, shoulders slumped and hands fidgeting slightly, "Y-yes…?"

"Here. Now." She ordered, pointing to the space directly in front of herself.

"Don't do it." Demyx whispered, leaning in a little closer to Irene, "She's scary. Who knows what she wants?"

"I won't wait all day." Came the harsh call, making the water Nobody jerk a bit.

"S-sorry, Demyx." Irene muttered as she stood, slowly moving to stand in front of Maria. Albeit a few paces away, "Yes..?"

With a roll of her eyes at Irene's timidness, Maria stepped closer, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards her- earning a squeak from the younger girl.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Just shut up." Ordered the fury, still holding the younger's hand as she slid a dark ring onto her finger before holding Irene's hand up so that she could see what it was she did. "This is a Chaos Ring. It helps protect you against the adverse effects of Darkness. Considering you have a bad habit of doing stupid things, this ought to help you at least a bit."

Irene stared at the trinket for a long moment, letting what Maria had said sink in. She's...she's helping me?

"I don't…"

Maria groaned, running a hand through her hair before crossing her arms in slight agitation, "You haven't unlocked your magic yet. That's obvious. So, until that happens, you need a little extra coddling since you're…" She gestured to all of her at that, looking for the right word but failing and opting for the blunt truth instead, "weak. You need proper training otherwise you're gonna get yourself killed."

At that, Axel stepped up, hands folded neatly behind his head, giving off an air of nonchalance, "She's right though. You keep getting yourself into some pretty tight spots. You gotta at least find your element."

"My element?" Irene asked. She thought back to Vexen, of when he asked if she could use fire magic before mumbling about how that might not be her true element.. Irene knew she didn't have magic; she couldn't. But….Maria had magic. And they were...they were siblings, right? That weird vision had to mean that. So, if Maria did, shouldn't she?

Maria glanced at Axel, trying to hide a smirk before returning her attention back to Irene, "Your affinity. It's not always considered an Element. The One before me was Gravity. Not really an element in the traditional sense, but it varies from person to person." She looked her over, tilting her head in thought for a moment before shaking her head, "I know you're not fire. You've got no heat to you whatsoever. And gravity is… a little out of your league."

"Could be wind." Axel offered.

"Unlikely." Xaldin interjected at that, coming to stand behind Axel. "I do not sense the air on her."

"You can't know that for sure!" Demyx called, gaining the gaze of the two fire starters. Making the musician squirm, "I-I mean... Vexen's even said you can't know until it happens. We didn't know I was water, remember?"

Axel shrugged, "He's got a point."

"Either way," Maria interrupted, "you're not strong enough to go wandering on your own until you have magic. And I'm not gonna keep saving your ass." Crossing her arms, the faintest set of heat radiating from her, as she made her decision, "So, until then you're gonna be following me. Got that?"

"I- w-what?" Irene squeaked, a little confused with how the conversation changed so abruptly. Her, stuck following Maria? So even now she was stuck with a guard - but not only that - now her guard was Maria? "A-are you sure that's a good idea-?"

"Certainly not." Interrupted the smooth velvety voice.

Irene heard Axel curse under his breath as Maria's determined expression turned into one of blatant disdain. She turned, looking for the source of the voice only to beam as she saw her pink haired friend.

"Marluxia!"

With a smile and a decadent wave he moved towards the Irene, all simple pleasantries and hidden rage, "Hello, little flower. I see you've acquired some unwanted company."

"Get lost, Marluxia." Axel snapped, scowling.

"I believe we should leave it up to the child, don't you think? We are friends after all."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"We are though!" Irene stated, stepping back towards Marluxia.

Maria noticed the movement, staring first at the child before training her glare at Marluxia, "Friends or no, I think you might be outnumbered here."

"You think so?" He asked, tone and expression light and friendly. But Maria recognized that gleam in his eyes. The shine of hatred and murder. This man was no easy friend. He would be cruel and manipulative if given the opportunity, and Irene was such an easy one at that. Marluxia looked over his shoulder, smile still pleasantly in place, "Would you mind joining the fun? It seems they wish to even the field."

"Fuck." Axel hissed as a tall blonde walked into the room. Her steps arrogant and eyes cruel as she walked up to them. The new woman didn't bother to try and hide her dislike of the group as she stood by her taller companion.

"I wouldn't call this fun." The stranger snapped, looking over to Axel as she raked her eyes from his head to his toes and back. Smirking as she did so, "But I'm sure I know how to make it fun."

Suddenly uncomfortable at the appearance of the blond, Irene backed up a bit- really not wanting a repeat of their last encounter. She glanced over at Maria, stopping short in her movements as she noticed the red in her eyes as she stared down the other woman. She's really mad…

"Now, Larxene. Don't be coy." Marluxia chided.

With a seductive smirk at Axel, the nymph turned her gaze to Maria, a deep set glare taking its place with a savage smile, "Of course; we'll need to take out the trash first."

"By trash, I assume you mean yourself." Maria responded quickly, Hazel eyes fighting against Larxene's gaze.

"Excuse me?"

"I know you heard me."

"Oh, I'm sure I didn't. No one is that stupid."

"To what? Call it like it is?"

"I'll kill you, you little-!"

"Enough." Marluxia snapped at his companion, his mask slipping for just a moment before quickly collecting himself. He turned to Irene, the Light Keeper having backed away from both groups, standing in the lounge with unspoken fear in her eyes, "Now then, little flower. Shall we leave?" He asked, holding out his hand.

"She's not going with you." Maria snapped.

Sharp eyes turned to the fire witch, face an impassive mask of hidden fury, "I beg you repeat that."

"I said she's not going with you."

"I think we should let the child decide-"

"And I said "No"." She repeated, this time with more heat in her voice. The room getting much warmer now, almost blisteringly so, as she hissed, "We are going to Vexen to unlock her Mana. She needs to learn how to defend herself." Maria's eyes were cold as she looked over the two killer Nobodies. Her tone just as deadly as their gazes, "I won't stop you from following us. But if you try anything, I will kill you. Consequences be damned."

Marluxia looked her over at that, judging her, sizing her up before responding, "I find it amusing you think you could."

Maria twitched her hands, sparks dancing on her fingertips, "Considering I beat you before, while almost out of Mana might I add, I think I'd do just that."

At that retort, Marluxia made to step forward. The scent of blooming roses filling the room quickly followed by the acidic tang of storms and ozone. Larxene's killer grin broadened on her face as she got ready for a fight- a fight she was all too eager to have. It wasn't until there was a sharp tug upon the floral assassin's sleeve did he stop in his short-lived assault on the Dark Keeper. He flicked his gaze down, letting out a brief sigh as he turned to give his full attention to the little light buried against his arm- her face hidden against the fabric of his coat sleeve.

"Little one, why do you cling to me so?"

"I…" Her voice was small as she choked on her words, fingers twitching as she tightened her hold and then loosened it. Pulling her face away, the young girl looked up at him, the fear and worry clear in her eyes. "P-Please don't fight… I-I don't want you guys to get hurt."

"But if I don't respond in kind, who knows what sorts of things she'll do to you? While she is the darkness, she did make you cry. Do you really want someone like that around?"

"Sh-She won't hurt me!" Her words were uncertain as she spoke, but determination to stop the fight was gradually turning into stubbornness. "She even- she even gave me a ring to help me, s-see?" Holding her hand up, she revealed the chaos ring on her finger. "S-So, no fighting! P-Please…?"

"Oh my god, seriously?" The voice that spoke wasn't Marluxia- instead coming from Larxene. The blonde turned her irritated gaze onto the brunette, watching as she flinched in response to the glare. Yet, oddly enough, despite how terrified she was Irene did not move to hide further behind Marluxia- she merely stood her ground, frightened eyes meeting the blonde's angry ones. "What is your issue!? If you get in my way I'll strike you down first, brat! I still owe you and that one-" From the couch, a small yelp could be heard from Demyx as lightning crackled in his direction, Larxene's acid glare focused on him now. "-for the incident in the kitchen!"

"Th-That was…" Irene's voice cracked and she flinched at the sound, but swallowed down the lump in her throat and took a deep breath before speaking again, Marluxia's eyes narrowing as he turned to stare down Larxene. She knew he was still cross with her for attacking the Keeper of Light last time- and yet now she was blatantly threatening her in front of him? They needed the young girl for their plans. "That was b-because you were bullying Demyx! I-It's not nice bullying people, you know? E-Even if you d-don't have hearts, it… it's still mean!"

"Oh, puh-lease! Save me the lecture." The blonde rolled her eyes, scoffing as she placed a hand on her hip. "Sweetie, come on- does it look like I care? Do I even have the capability to care? Uh, no. Get it through your thick little skull before I decide to mar that cute little face of yours."

Heels clacking against the ground, Marluxia raising his arm and placing it in front of the small girl and pushing her gently behind him, Larxene stopped in front of her and scowled. She saw the action- she knew Marluxia was "angry" with her- but at the moment Larxene wasn't bothered by that. She was just sick of this whiny… child getting in her way all the time.

"I. Don't. Take. Orders. From. You. M'kay?"

"Larxene." His voice was calm, quiet, authoritative. The woman scoffed and flickered her wrist in the air, taking pleasure at the sight of the girl flinching, but couldn't help the memory that was annoyance settle inside her at the knowledge that the girl didn't back away because she was scared of her- Irene backed away because Marluxia made her. "You're scaring her."

"I didn't make her cry yet, did I?" She dismissed, scrunching her nose up in distast at Irene and then at Maria who was watching contemplatively, her eyes narrowed in suspicion and calculation. Maria had obviously grown tired of this little game.

Clearing her throat slightly, Maria placed one hand on her hip, the other gesturing towards the door, "If you're finished, sparky?" She mused, her tone barely hiding her sarcasm.

With a roll of his eyes, Marluxia waved a graceful hand towards to door; purposefully standing between the now fuming Larxene and the Keepers. No matter how much the hazel eyed one irritated him, he needed to keep her mostly unharmed if he was to use his little puppet. As he moved, he kept his eyes locked on the still scared Irene, "Shall we then?"

Irene nodded, still clinging to Marluxia's arm as the Assassin used his free hand to wave at the doorway. Clearly stating "Your move" without ever having to speak.

Maria didn't bat an eye at the obvious jab, instead, she turned with determination. Striding toward the door with purpose as she passed by Axel and Xaldin. With a quick glance over his shoulder Axel waved towards the still slightly cowering water user, "Yo, Demyx. You coming or what?"

Letting out a light squeak, Demyx jerked into a standing pose. Slumping in on himself a bit after the initial shock of the matter with a quiet mumble, "How do I always get pulled into these things?"

"Demyx, let's go!"

"R-right!" He stammered, taking off after his flaming friend. Being sure to give a timid smile at Irene even as he hurriedly tried to rush past the killer Nobodies as fast as he could.

This would be an interesting little field trip.

…

The tension in the hallway as the group walked was so thick that Xaldin wouldn't have even needed his spears to cut it. It was crackling with heat and electricity. The blonde fury glaring holes into Maria's back from where the brunette walked alongside Axel and Xaldin, the former promptly ignoring any remarks sent their way. Per Marluxia's orders, she walked a few paces behind himself, trying to keep his puppet at ease.

Demyx stood behind Axel, being sure to glance at Irene occasionally despite his obvious discomfort. The small girl walked alongside Marluxia, having to move a bit faster so as to keep up with the larger man's stride. Still clinging to his arm as though, if she didn't, he would surely break out into a deathmatch with her sister. Her apparently angry, murderous sister.

The poor girl's thoughts were going wild: Wh-What do I do? What if they break out into a fight? I'm not strong enough to stop them, I-I can't even- oh gods, what if-

"Irene."

The short, clipped sound of her name coming from pale lips jarred her from her thoughts. Twitching and holding tighter to Marluxia's arm as she jerked her head towards the source of her name. Seeing bright hazel eyes glancing over a red clad shoulder at her. Maria waved her hand as if to motion her up to her, calling her forward and away from Marluxia. Away from the one thing she was trying to do to stop a potential fight.

Freaking flubber cracker mutts… .

"Relax. I'm not gonna fight princess, there. I need to talk to you." Maria called easily, not stopping in her stride.

Gulping past the newly formed lump in her throat, Irene glanced up at Marluxia for assurance. His calculating expression searching the auburn girl for answers; however not being able to find what he sought. Instead, with a light sigh, he turned a gentle smile to his timid charge.

"It is fine. I am right here should you need me." He assured as he ruffled her hair with his free hand.

More at ease, Irene had nodded. Letting go of Marluxia - although reluctantly - as she made her way up next to Maria, barely noticing that Xaldin had moved so as to give her space to walk beside Maria. She fidgeted with her sleeves as she strode beside Maria, noticing she never took her eyes off of the corridors before them. Never letting anything jump out at them. Always ready. Always prepared.

H-Has she always lived so… scared? Irene thought, struggling for the right word, before twitching as bright hazel eyes turned to her sharply. The short girl realizing that Maria had been talking to her, "W-what?"

"I said, how are you feeling? Now that you're not drowning in your own lungs."

"I...I can breathe now. Like, actually breathe." She muttered, seeing Maria look away at that. Turning her own gaze and glancing down at the floor as they walked, "I-it was actually kinda weird at first. I didn't really know how to handle it. Zexion was like, 'oh. We fixed you.' and I was like, 'okay. That's cool. Wait, what?'" She explained, fidgeting more with her hands and sleeves as she explained how Zexion and Vexen had dropped the news of them having completely revamped her organs.

Maria had a hard time fighting her smile at Irene's ludicrous explanation, the expression new and difficult to hide. "In other words, you're a completely healthy teenager."

"Yeah. I guess so." She mumbled, pushing her glasses back up a bit from where they had fallen down the bridge of her nose.

"And what about your pain?"

"Huh?"

"Your pain." Maria had asked, raising a hand to point at the center of her own chest, eyes going distant, "Your heart. You've been surrounded by darkness for some time now. Not to mention being near me." She said, casting another glance over at her, "You may not have noticed, but your heart was filled with darkness. Trust me when I say that that hurts."

"Well…" Irene trailed off before her sentence has even truly formed. Thinking back on it, she was in a lot less pain than before. Almost no pain actually. Which is odd. There's always been a pain of some kind, even if it was only mild. But now, she felt light. Almost eerily so. And it was kinda creepy to notice, "I don't hurt at all…"

A slight hum to her left was her only response to that for a long moment. Waiting to see what else Maria would say. After they started to descend another staircase, she wondered if she would say anything or if she could move back to Marluxia. She had just started to slow her stride when the other finally spoke, voice so soft that she almost didn't hear it.

"Do you still have the pendant?"

Irene was so confused by the question she didn't even notice Axel's posture tense at the mention of the pendant. "The what?"

"The pendant. I had given it to you when Axel and I got to Zexion." Maria turned her gaze back over to her when no answer came. Brows knit together, perplexed, "I had given it to you to stave off your pain and help stabilize you." The expression in her eyes turned to one of panic despite her calm face when Irene only shook her head, "You lost it?"

"You mean that Diamond thingy?" Came a slightly terrified but mildly curious voice. The sudden question caused a sharply pointed glare to shoot back at the water Nobody, making him squeak.

"You. You're...Demyx, right?" Maria asked, stopping just outside a large door to face the musician.

"Y-yeah?"

"Alright Demyx. Where's the diamond?" She asked, crossing her arms. She could feel Axel sigh beside her, the woman electing to ignore the irritation of her red-haired companion.

"I-it's a metal thing. Right? I went to visit her once while Vexen still had her locked up in the lab." He rubbed the back of his head slightly, growing in confidence when her glare didn't deepen but instead remained a steady curious gaze. "I saw it once, on the floor. I think it fell off her shirt. So, since she was sleeping, I put it in her pocket."

"Her pocket?" Maria and Axel asked, slightly dumbfounded that the little girl had never thought to check her pockets.

"Um…" The sudden bursting open of the doors behind them, followed by the chilled gust of icy air, swept anything Irene would have had to say away. Eyes lighting up at the sight of the cold - yet slightly manic - scientist.

"What are you all doing, yelling about out here?!"

"Vexen!" Irene called excitedly, running up to him with a broad smile despite his flabbergasted guffaw at his name being said in such a shrill pitch. Though she had been previously frightened of Vexen, her time in the lab did dim down her fear of the scientist as he had not made any move to truly experiment on her- even if he did threaten her. A little scary, yes, but not nearly as frightening as Larxene.

He was also far too lanky to be a fighter, so she wasn't really worried about him getting into a battle with Marluxia or Maria. Confusion quickly etched itself onto her face and she peered into the lab as best as she could without moving her body, trying to catch a glimpse to see if a certain scientist and his giant companion were inside.

Looking back up at him, Irene gave an awkward wave. "Hi!"

Vexen's eye twitched in response, wondering if mood swings were common for the child. "...Greetings. For what reason have you all decided to gather- very loudly, might I add- outside of my lab? The girl is fixed!" His eyes flickered to Maria, curiosity growing quickly. Now that they were both in the same place and he could get a proper look at her, he was mildly surprised to see that she and Irene did have a resemblance. "Unless you're here for a check-up…"

"Easy there, Killer Frost," Maria retorted with a scoff, "my ticker works just fine."

"Killer- no. I won't even bother to stoop to your level. Now, tell me- if you aren't here due to illness or for a check-up, then what reason are you here for?"

Maria raised a brow at his obvious dismissal, rolling her eyes, "You're a Scientist, right? And the other one is fluent in Mana, unless that fight was all a lie." She stepped up beside Irene, arms crossed and stance determined, not willing to take no for an answer, "You're going to unlock her affinity."

Acid green eyes stared back at her as though she had grown two extra heads, "Excuse me?"

"She needs to learn how to access her magic. You and the Bookkeeper are going to help her unlock it."

"You presume to demand me to do this? I just fixed the girl; I see no reason why I need further help her!"

"You're doing it because you owe me."

"I beg your pardon?" Vexen snapped, aghast.

"You attacked me, when if you had just talked to me I probably would have followed. And, for the record, I fixed her." Maria shot back, venom now lacing her voice as her hazel eyes bled over to red, "I pulled the darkness out of her heart. Without me, your little potions wouldn't have worked. And then your Xemnas would have had your hide. You owe me."

At that sheer determined rage of words Maria assaulted Vexen with, the hall grew silent. Acid green and ruby red glaring each other down. Neither willing to relinquish control.

And then the sound of slow applause rang through the hall, jolting both out of the staring match. Both turned to look at the source. Red eyes turning hazel as anger led to confusion, while green grew darker in disapproval at the scene.

Marluxia, leaning against the opposing wall, soft and friendly smile with a fierce determined gaze, stood giving slow applause at the scene before him. All calculating stares and fake nonchalance. He pushed away from the wall easily as he made his way to stand before the two smaller beings.

"I must say, I am impressed. You have outmatched our resident scientist. And so boastfully." He leaned down to her, his grin turning more manic now that it was out of Irene's line of sight. His voice dropping to a mere whisper so only the two could hear, "One might think you actually care about the child. A shame the darkness has no heart."

The glare that Maria leveled Marluxia with was enough to make even Vexen take a step back. Poor Irene, trying to move forward to see what caused Vexen's sudden retreat, was greeted only by the soft and friendly smile of the Flower user and her… sister's unimpressed stare.

Why do I feel like I just missed something… again?

"If we're done with the pleasantries," Maria snapped, eyes darting back to Vexen, "You. Unlock her affinity."

"Why you insolent little-"

"Again, Vexen?" A familiar velvet voice interrupted, stepping out of the lab door with an irritated blue eye. "And with a horde of members? Honestly, what did you do to upset the Light Keeper this time?"

"It's not the Light Keeper, it's the Darkness Keeper!" Vexen snapped in response. "She keeps threatening me!"

"Then perhaps… you should defend yourself?" Zexion retorted calmly, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly. He turned his gaze to stare at the Keeper of Darkness, unsurprised by her appearance due to his heightened sense of smell and from having heard yelling from when he was inside the lab. His single eye sharpened intently as he stared down at the woman that threatened to stand at his height, her hazel eyes flickering red and black- the woman ready to attack if things didn't go as planned. Looking down at the most innocent and gullible of the bunch, startled brown eyes met azure. "Light Keeper…"

"I-Irene?" She stammered, still determined to get him to call her by her name. He had used it once before, so why wasn't he now? Maria turned to look down at the girl, taking note of her stiff posture and how her attention was instantly caught by the scientist. "Uh, p-please…?"

"...Why are you here? Did we not just relieve you from the lab? You're well, aren't you?" She certainly smelled of perfect health- and overwhelming light. It was such a strong smell it was nearly unbearable. The only sight of injury was the dried cut on her cheek. Zexion watched as Irene fidgeted awkwardly, glancing up at Maria and Marluxia, and then at Demyx as she struggled to come up with a proper response.

Larxene was fuming in silence all the way at the back, itching for a fight but not willing to make Marluxia mad for the third time in a week. Xaldin had his eye out, focusing on the conversation at hand and as ready as Axel to summon their weapon in case the twelfth member of their Organization decided to do anything that would harm either of the keepers.

"Y-Yeah, I- I feel great, actually," Irene finally managed to speak, her anxiety shooting up to incredible heights due to all the tension and bloodlust in the air, "w-which is thanks to you, so thank you again, b-but, uh…"

Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she cast another nervous glance up at Marluxia who just gave her a gentle smile.

"M-Maria…" Irene let out a sigh. "I wasn't going to go back to the lab for a while. W-When Marluxia picked me up we hung out for a bit, but then I ran off and-" In a split second, the girl made the decision not to bring up the dusks.

The girl could tell the slate-blue haired scientist later, but right now she felt a little uncomfortable at the thought of all these people knowing something like that. According to Demyx, the "Keeper of Light" should not have any control over any kind of Nobody, whereas the "Keeper of Darkness" had control of Heartless. A part of Irene wondered if Maria knew she had control of the Heartless, but with how powerful she seemed… she most likely did.

And Marluxia… if the dusks actually bothered him… Irene really didn't want to make him angry. She knew the one actually showed her the way to where Demyx was, but she had no idea about the others. Not to mention the fact that both Larxene and Axel were here… and she didn't really know or like Xaldin enough to let him overhear. And Maria…

She was still at a loss over Maria.

"-found Demyx." Irene finished her sentence, fiddling her sleeves. "We were talking a-and then Maria showed up… and then she and Marluxia started to argue, a-and then Larxene showed up-" The blonde in question narrowed her acid colored eyes at the brunette, glaring her and only turning her stare away when a certain pink-haired man turned to look at her. "-and I got them to stop fighting, but then Maria had us come here to find you a-and Vexen because she wanted… to… unlock my… affinity?"

During the rant, Zexion had brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache began to form. However, he had spent two days listening to her ranting and knew that- while a lot of it was nonsensical- there was some valuable information she let slip. How she knew details about other worlds was something he definitely needed to inquire about when he had the time.

"O-Oh! Also!" Irene exclaimed, realization hitting her when she figured out she forgot to say something. Holding her hand up for Zexion to see, she pointed at the ring. "Maria gave me this!"

No one said anything, merely taking in all that she said, and after the long silence Demyx was the one who spoke.

"For someone who had breathing troubles… you have a lot of air."

"Maybe 'cause she's an airhead," Axel suggest, scratching his chin in thought, "she did run at me when we first met. And picked multiple fights with Larxene."

"Do you have something you want to say to me, Axel?" The feisty blonde growled, stepping closer with sparking fingers. The redhead held his hands up in response, as if to defend himself, though the smirk on his face said that he wouldn't mind battling her if a fight did break out.

Xaldin, seeing where this was headed, brought a hand up to his forehead and sighed irritably. "Honestly, you two- act more befitting of a member of this Organization. You bring shame to us all."

"Shut it, whirlwind," Larxene growled, acid green eyes glaring up at him from the side, "I'm not afraid to take you on either."

"Now, now," Marluxia began, stepping forward and extending an arm out gracefully towards the blond, "let's not create a mess, Larxene. We're here for a reason, are we not? I'm rather curious as to what the girl's element will be. With her fondness of flowers perhaps-maybe- it will be similar to mine?"

Irene, who had still been focused on Zexion and trying to figure out the best way to bring up the topic of the dusks and when, blinked when she realized she was being spoken about. Turning her head, she craned her neck and looked up at the pink-haired man. "Hah?"

He smiled politely at the girl, something sinister lying beneath the kindness of his gaze. "Perhaps I could be the one to train you if that is the case?"

"O-Oh… uh, sure?" She was still a little confused about the meaning of an "element", but she was starting to get a decent idea. Her main concern was whether or not she would actually be able to use magic. "Th-That'd be nice…"

Sure, there was the point in case of where she had burned Vexen's hand earlier, but that was only because of Maria's interference, wasn't it? What if Irene wasn't able to use magic at all without her help? If she couldn't be of any use… would they kill her? They had no qualms about attacking her friends- er, rather, Axel and Xigbar did.

Zexion was the only one who hadn't attacked her. He was the one who who actually helped her; he, Lexaeus, Demyx… they were the only ones who hadn't caused her to doubt as of yet. Even Marluxia, as nice as he could be, caused something unsettling to toss about in her stomach. The way he acted whenever she had tried to speak about their hearts… it bothered her.

But Zexion, Demyx, and Lexaeus had been honest so far.

And, if trust would ever be brought into question, the scientist that saved her definitely was the one that she trusted most. "U-Um, I have… I have a question though." Everyone who had thought she was going to still be speaking to Marluxia was put in for a surprise when she turned to face the slate blue-haired scientist. Soft brown eyes met cold inquiring blue. "H-How will we be… um, "discovering" my "affinity? I-I don't know the first thing about magic a-and what happened with Vexen had been…"

The girl trailed off, guilt taking over her features as she began to fiddle with the ring on her fingers. A small shiver racked through her body, brought on by the cold and the lack of long sleeves covering her arms. Anxiety prickling away at her, she turned her gaze nervously back to Zexion.

"That had been an accident."

"Wait, what happened with Vexen?" Axel spoke up, confused as to what they were talking about. He knew a lot of things had been happening around the small child, but now there was apparently something else going on as well? Maria and Marluxia's attention were caught as well, both curious and intrigued. "Did you piss him off, too?"

Demyx wasn't very surprised, Irene having told him earlier, but it did make him wonder how many fights the defenseless girl had gotten into since entering the Castle That Never Was.

Irene didn't answer, looking too ashamed of herself to even look at them. Instead her gaze focused on the ground. Tired of the situation at hand Vexen spoke up with a sigh, running his fingers through his long hair. "There was an incident upon our first meeting. I scared the child and she burned my hand in response; nothing a simple potion couldn't heal. I believe the Keeper of Darkness' influence at that time had something to do with it."

"Influence?" Maria questioned, voice lowering as she turned her sharp gaze to the small child. Irene flinched at the hard stare, wondering if it was too late to hide behind someone. "Child. Explain."

"I-I don't know-"

Knowing full well the girl would not have the answers, Zexion interrupted. "Due to the separation of both halves the two were weakened. However, due to the difference in the worlds they lived in the intensity of each illness was different. From simple deduction, it is safe to conclude that the Keeper of Darkness' condition was lessened due to her exposure to the abundance of magic. As such, the production of mana wasn't weakened, allowing her to condition her body to potions and healing remedies, and therefore caused less risk to her body.

"As for the Keeper of Light… she was living in a world where magic did not exist lest it come from the outside, and as such her body- which would have been producing large amounts of mana, essentially contaminating and poisoning her body in a magicless world, and would have been struggling to protect her from the curse of the separation- had her magic locked away. This in turn led to her condition becoming near-fatal, for after the Keepers first meeting the sleep they both fell into unlocked multiple things. The meeting had reconnected the chains that had once been separated, but also unlocked the magic hidden with the Light Keeper."

"And?" Marluxia prodded, frowning. "You make that sound like a bad thing."

"I'm getting to that." Zexion scowled, sighing as he rested his index and middle fingers lightly against his nose. "The Keeper of Light's body had become so accustomed to living without magic that when the lock came unsealed and the mana began to flow it merely started to make things worse. However, when she became under immense stress- such as when she had fallen ill and we had to take her into the lab- she had been able to produce magic. Vexen and I believe - that when she had first used the magic to release his hold on her - that the Keeper of Darkness had inadvertently influenced her. For the spell she had used wasn't any magic befitting of her- as it was fire." He trained his piercing gaze onto the Keeper of Darkness, focus locked on the woman as he continued, "And fire is the element you use most.

"Also, from what we had gathered from the data taken during the examination, some of the illness had also been hereditary; so the Light Keeper had not only darkness eating at her heart without the protection of self-produced mana, but also the curse of horrible genetics."

Irene blinked, stunned by the long speech and staring at the man with a strange look of awe, while Maria was standing in silence, an intense look of heavy thought on her face.

"Well…" Axel spoke, breaking the quiet, "damn, kid. No wonder you nearly died."

Zexion nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Since the time where she had burned Vexen's hand, the only magic the girl had been able to produce was when she had- once again- been under immense stress and made a portal of pure light. That was what led me to search for Lexaeus in order to bring the girl to the lab."

So it was Lexaeus that had carried her. Irene knew it had to have been him; Zexion didn't seem too physically strong- nor like the kind of person that would actually carry someone. Save for the kidnapping and how he had somehow managed to sling her over his shoulder to get her out of the dark corridor faster, though he did end up greatly out of breath afterwards.

The majority of the incident was a bit of a blur, but she did remember being thrown onto a couch by him after nearly blacking out in the corridor.

"Wait, hold on." Maria interrupted, expression even sharper than earlier. Irene continued to fiddle with her ring, but didn't hide away despite the urge to when Maria stared her down. "You made a portal? The hell, child?" It had taken years before Maria had managed to make a portal of her own, but Irene- who had just gained access to her powers- was already able to use such a powerful spell?

Although he did say that it was under great distress... and, thinking on it, she had a lot of magic stored up from over the years just waiting to be used.

Rather than appearing impressed or surprised, Larxene simply snorted at the words the young scientist said and placed a hand on her hip. "Wow. Let's not give her too much credit now; the kid can't even walk through a dark corridor by herself. She'll still die- even if she's the "Keeper of Light". She's not exactly threatening."

Demyx took a step back at her words, a strange look crossing his face again as he remembered the encounter in the kitchen. Axel nodded his head in reluctant agreement, knowing Larxene had a point. Irene had never actually used her magic of her own volition; it had been self-preservation from desperation that had led to it.

"If we consider the level of magic she used," Zexion started, remaining in a thoughtful pose as he crossed his arms fully over his chest, "it's safe to assume that once she's been trained she could be a very powerful mage. We all, or rather the majority of us, have already witnessed the strength of the Keeper of Darkness while she had been wounded- and she was clearly well trained. It's just a matter of having the Keeper of Light fully releasing her magic and drawing forth her chosen weapon. She could be a very valuable asset to us given time…"

Xaldin raised an eyebrow at that, violet eyes narrowing as he stared at the young man, questioning what it was he was scheming. "You are suggesting we teach her to fight? The Superior's orders were to keep her safe- not to toss her into battle."

Zexion closed his eyes at that, letting out a sigh. "I'm not suggesting anything of the sort, Number Three. The Keeper of Light was made to heal others, and as such she would be quite proficient in magic. The girl clearly despises hurting others; so why should we not use her talent to help the organization?"

Irene's eyes lit up upon hearing that. So there was a way she could be useful to them! She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get out even one word Maria's voice broke through the air, voice harsh and cold as stone.

"No."

At that single syllable, everyone froze. Confused eyes focused on the wielder of darkness and Irene stared up at her, not understanding why this woman kept trying to make decisions for her. Yes, they might be sisters and, yes, she was obviously older than her, but they barely knew each other. Why was she suddenly trying to take control of her? "Wh-What? Why not? If I can help, then-"

"But you don't know their true goal, do you?" Maria growled, stepping closer until she was hovering over the girl. "How did you get here, Irene? Was it willing or did they kidnap you? Drag you? Or did you happily bounce along after them, ready to please? You didn't even know magic was real. Do you even understand what it is you even are?"

…

I stared up at her, eyebrows knitted together and disbelief etched on my features. It was difficult trying to recall Xemnas' speech from the first day, but I did my best. "I… I know I'm supposed to help keep balance- to… to protect the hearts of man, or something like that. A-And they want to…"

I could see Demyx stiffen out of the corner of my eye and I remembered what he had told me. He had told me that they wanted to regain their own hearts. That they wanted to complete Kingdom Hearts.

"They want to protect us." I settled on, though I still questioned whether or not that was true based on the actions of several members. Only a few have kept that true- those members being Demyx, who had saved me from Larxene, Lexaeus, who had saved me from a rogue dusk, and Zexion, who had cured me of my illness. I met the woman's gaze, intimidated by the way her gaze bore into mine, and continued, "A-And it was willing?"

Not an exact lie, nor total truth. I wasn't about to go anywhere with Axel or Xigbar upon first meeting- at least not until they started threatening my friends- but I didn't fight Zexion when he dragged me through the portal. I could feel the eyes of Axel and Zexion on me, knowing full well that what I was saying was half-truths, and that if I lacked the common sense for survival I would have ran away from them first chance.

But I valued my life and the lives of others, so I allowed myself to follow them into this castle. Even if they were lying about wanting to protect me, even if they were using me for the sole purpose of whatever mystical powers I was supposed to have, I wanted to help them regain their hearts. I didn't want to sit around uselessly day-after-day like I have been. I wanted to help.

And I owed Zexion and- regrettably- Vexen my life. Zexion twice-fold as he did stop Axel from splitting me in half and turning me into mincemeat toast.

…

Maria narrowed her eyes at Irene's hesitant admission. Her glare intensifying, "News flash kid; protecting us? That's a damn fairytale you'll die by believing."

"Maria-" Xaldin began to interject before the young firestarter turned blazing red eyes on him.

"No. Don't even. You know as well as I do that you could go off and find the Keepers all over again. You all are not protecting us; you're watching us. Keeping us under your influence to mold and guide as you see fit." Her gaze flickered over to Marluxia briefly, the hazel over her eyes completed bathed over in burning crimson. She let her eyes fall back over to her guardian of the day, the Lancer's gaze giving away nothing to his current thoughts, "Nothing is willing here. Not with Keepers. Not with us."

The tension in the air was much heavier than it had been when the group had been travelling down the halls. Fighting was simple; especially amongst this troup. But to have their heavy truths laid bare before them all? To have everything held before them and be dared to deny it? That was a different matter entirely. Shifting, Axel let his gaze rake over Maria's features, looking for the scar that allowed her to speak to harshly. The hurt that laid the truth out before her. But Maria's masks were carved in steel, not stone. And her secrets would lay buried another day.

With a sharp turn, Maria turned her heated glare back to Irene, her shoulders pulled tense and fists clenched as she stared down the smaller child. "You will not go off helping everyone you feel gives you a purpose simply because you have some preconceived misguided debt you think you have to pay. You think things through. Actually focus." She demanded, her words harsh and clipped before stepping up right in front of her, staring her down with fury before sighing quietly. Allowing some of the hazel to bleed back into her eyes as she placed a hand gently on Irene's shoulder, so as not to startle her. "You'll unlock your affinity, and from there I'll teach you the basics of magic. From there - after you've thought things through completely - you can decide if you want to help them."

When Irene spoke again, her voice was quiet. Shaky, but filled with determination and the indignation of being scolded, the short brunette raised her head and met the young woman's gaze. Her legs trembled beneath her, her fingers twitching and curling into fists to hide the tremor, but her brown eyes were strong as she pulled away from the woman's touch.

And in her eyes the colors began to change- almost mimicking the red of Maria by changing in bright white and gold. Silver slivers tangled into the soft brown, golden specks spotting the whites of her eyes. Her expression, though determined, hid the anger the magic in her eyes revealed, showing just how threatened Irene felt and how scared she was by the implications of Maria's words.

But it wasn't the fear that everyone was lying to her- no, Irene already suspected that; it was the idea that Maria had went through something horrible due to her role as a Keeper and it was that what had made her so angry a person today.

"It's not… just because of a debt." She told her, lips turned down into a frown as her expression levelled into something neutral- only the anger in her eyes betraying the uncaring look she tried so hard to portray. "It's because I want to help them regain their hearts."

Irene raised a hand to her chest, fingers digging into the cloth of her shirt as she thought about how the Nobodies couldn't feel. How she was unable to hear the heart beating within Marluxia's chest. How Lexaeus, Zexion, and Demyx told her repeatedly that they were merely mimicking emotions.

"Not… being able to feel is… terrifying; don't you think?"

She looked up at the woman, silver-and-gold eyes misty with tears. Her voice cracked as she spoke, struggling to imagine what it must be like in their shoes. How it must be to not feel anything at all. To have no heart. To know that the only reason you existed was because someone else had died.

"I-If I have… powers that can… help them regain emotions, th-then I want to help! Sure, some of them are scary, b-but the others are trying to be nice! I-It's probably really hard doing that when you only have memories to rely on, but they're trying. I-If I can help them enough to give them that chance of getting a heart back, I-"

"No." The girl flinched, words dying on her tongue the moment Maria spoke up again. "You are not thinking." Maria was a little startled to hear about their predicament, but that merely led into confusion as if they lacked hearts how had they kept their humanoid form? Axel called themselves "Nobodies" before- were they somehow related to the Heartless? Or was it a lie concocted to reel them into their plans? "We'll deal with that later- after you have started training and after we get the full story."

Her eyes flickered around the group, observing their reactions to the argument. She knew that there were twelve members, but for some reason only Axel and Xaldin kept getting assigned to her. Perhaps it was because their affinities were best suited to her, but this girl seemed quite attached to the blond-Demyx, the bookkeeper- Zexion, and the assassin-Marluxia. Two of the three were obviously the most cunning of the entire organization, so manipulating the girl to their whim must have been quite easy.

And as much as Maria enjoyed Axel and Xaldin's company… she knew from deductive reasoning that they were only telling her what she wanted to hear. Not what she needed to hear.

Not the truth..

She turned her crimson gaze back to Irene, the black flooding into the white - briefly - in reaction to Irene's own before completely returning back to their natural hazel state. "You unlock your magic. We train. We get the whole story." She let her eyes shift over towards Axel and Xaldin as if in challenge then, "All of it." Directing her attention back at Irene, she finally unclenched her fists. Trying to show a sense of compromise to the smaller girl, "And then you can make Your decision."

The girl hesitated, as if still wanting to argue her case, the decision she had made when in the lounge minutes back, before slowly nodding and stepping back. "O-Okay…" Irene twitched slightly as a hand was suddenly jerked out in front of her, blinking in alarm at the red clad arm.

"We shake on it. A mage's bargain." Maria stated firmly, eyes leaving no room for argument.

"...F-fine, but my decision probably isn't gonna change."

"As long as it's an informed decision, I don't care. But you're going to be smart about it."

"Okay…"

"Shake on it." She said again.

Irene eyed the hand hesitantly, worrying her lip between her teeth before slowly reaching out and clasping Maria's hand in hers. Feeling a surge rush up her arm at the contact, she nearly jerked her hand away from shock.

"The deal is set." Came Maria's soft voice before her tone returned to it's rough nature, eying the two scientist sternly. "Now, bookkeeper, ice Mage; get to work."

Zexion and Vexen both looked at her with cold, unimpressed stares. Neither cared for her attitude nor the way she was trying to pull the Keeper of Light out of their clutches. With an irritable twitch of the brow, Zexion extended a hand out and gestured to the lab doors, gaze focusing on the more… amiable of the two keepers. "This way."

Irene, like a deer-in-the-headlights and greatly unnerved by all that was happening around her, awkwardly shuffled over to the younger scientist as she made her way over to the lab door. Zexion started to follow, but Vexen, who was already quite miffed from everyone's presence, focused a mad-eyed stare at Maria, his voice full of arrogance and speaking as though the young woman was but a mere child,

"We will begin when the girl is ready- not by your whim. The process will take time as it depends solely on that broken child's will; you ought not push us too far if you want the procedure to begin."

"I'll push you as much as I'll need to," Maria hissed, stepping closer to the older man. Larxene snickered in the background, standing close to the smirking Marluxia, and Xaldin lowered his head with a deep frown. The Keeper of Darkness continued, unperturbed of the dark glare being sent her way by the mad scientist, "so long as it means that one can defend herself against those who only want to use her. Besides, I sure as hell know a lot more about the procedure than you do- I actually went through it. So fuck off."

"Being used?" Vexen repeated, intrigued by her choice of words. A smirk dawning on his face, he raised a hand up to his chin and mused, "Is that what had happened to you? You were taken by will and used for your powers? Not all are your enemies, child, so you shouldn't be so ready to fight those who are aiming to be comrades-in-arms."

"I am not a child!" She growled, eyes flickering with red once more as her fingers twitched- anxious and ready for battle once more. Her nerves were on end, the heat slowly starting to spread through her veins as she resisted the urge to burst into flames. "I'm clearly older than your librarian of an assistant over there, so I suggest you watch your mouth. So back the fuck off before I make you."

At that, Maria felt a long fingered hand grasp her shoulder. Turning sharp eyes to match shining emerald, Axel's hand squeezing lightly, "Hey, maybe we should focus on the kid, huh?"

Maria sighed, letting out a slight 'tsk' sound before turning back to move past a fuming Vexen into the lab. Looking up just in time only to watch as Zexion rested the tips of his fingers against Irene's forehead. A flash of white light and then the girl was falling, collapsing into his arms without so much as a grunt even after he had Lexaeus- who had been in the lab the whole time- pick the girl up and place her gently on the table. Within seconds there were flames- a fire that of which Demyx quickly doused by spouting water from his hands- and then Zexion's back was pressed against a counter.

Pale fingers at his throat, the young scientist was unperturbed by the glare reigning down on him. The fury could feel something akin to a blade against the side of her neck, and out of the corner of her eyes she could make out the sight of a heavy weapon. A weapon that belonged to Zexion's guardian and protector, Lexaeus. Darkness danced out from Maria's shadows, ready to strike at the other members who- save for Demyx- had weapons drawn and pointed at her.

She had taken some of this group down before when she was only on her last bits of strength; it would be simple to get rid of them all now. She's been resting for days after all. She could take the girl and run off- train her properly and away from all of this. Teach her what the real world was like.

But then she remembered her stare- her determined, silver-eyed gaze as she spoke about helping these people. How she wanted to get their hearts back. If there was even the slightest chance of it all being true - about them being without hearts, about genuinely seeking help - Maria wanted to believe it. That maybe there were people who wouldn't use them- but she knew the chances of that were slim. Incredibly slim. She would never let her guard down for a risk like this. Not again.

Yet as her eyes rested on the young girl, laying in a peaceful sleep on the table, and as she shifted her gaze to rest on those of a reluctant vibrant green stare Maria found herself turning to look back down at Zexion and demand, "What. Did. You. Do?"

"I would think that would be obvious." He retorted, a hint of sarcasm on his tongue as he leaned his head back and stared down at her with cool blue eyes. "I may not have access to my own, but as a mage I have the ability to send others into their hearts. This was done to you, was it not? She'll remain asleep until she has unlocked the access to the weapon her heart designed."

Maria didn't speak, frustrated with the fact that he was right. Yen Sid had sent Maria to delve into her heart a very long time ago- though the way it had then happened was far more gentle and not nearly as dangerous.

A beat of tense silence, and then a voice broke through the tension, "...What'll happen if she doesn't wake up?" It was Demyx. His voice, though normally trembling, was oddly calm. Solemn, even. "What if… she doesn't summon her weapon?"

This was when Maria spoke, her tone nothing short of grim. "Then she'll be trapped in the abyss of her own heart." Her eyes cut into Zexion's; her gaze unforgiving, "For someone who's supposed to be so damn wise, you're a fucking fool."

"I beg to differ." The man retorted, peeling her fingers off his throat and stepping away. Lexaeus kept his weapon aimed at her, unafraid to attack should she threaten Zexion again. "That girl is not as weak as you're intent on believing. She's been fighting darkness for thirteen years- if she were to give in to something as simple as her own light there would have been no point in saving her."

Gloved fingers rubbing lightly at his neck, he turned his gaze on his giant companion. Lexaeus, seeing his gaze, cautiously lowered his weapon away from Maria and allowed it to vanish in the air.

Maria just continued to stare him down, rage boiling inside of her. "No point in saving her?" Maria balked, hands coiling into fists at her side, uninhibited anger evident in her tone, "She defended you. Practically gleams when you speak, and you would have just let her die if you thought she was a waste of time, wouldn't you? I don't think she's weak." She spat, her shoulders drawn taut and teeth clenched tightly. She no shift in Zexion's gaze as he stared her down all through her retort; not when her eyes bleed into black and crimson, and not when Axel tried to slowly ease his way behind her. No, she knew Zexion didn't care for emotional reactions. He only cared for logic; and it was that that led her to her next statement. His lack of understanding.

"You think it's only the act of facing one's heart to release their magic? Gods, you're as bad as the damn Heartless. It's not the act of falling, it's the act of finding." She gestured to the child with a wide wave of her arm, "To find one's own, you need peace of mind! To be centered with oneself. You just sent her into her heart completely unprepared, not giving her peace of mind! Her heart is in turmoil and chaos right now and you just sent her into the thick of war!"

"She'll survive."

"No, she won't!" Maria snapped.

"Her will is stronger than you think."

"Her will means nothing if her heart fails!" She retorted before letting out a low growl, shoving Zexion out of the way and moving towards the girl with determination. Smooth leather quickly grabbed her forearm, stopping her before fire erupted about her arm. Her fury doing no good against the crimson haired flurry holding her back.

"Think this through, kid. What are you even going to do?" He argued, brows knit together in what Maria could only describe as concern.

With a rough yank on her arm, she broke free from him, words cutting like knives across the room, "More than you."

Axel could only watch as the shadows writhed about her feet, wrapping her legs in liquid black as she placed her hands against the young brunette's temples. Realization dawned on him as she lowered her forehead to the girl's; moving to pull her back - but he moved to late. A pulse emitted from the two keepers; Maria - despite having told the girl she would no longer save her - had willingly dove into Irene's heart. Gloved hands slammed against the shimmering barrier around the two, fire flickering about the black clothed fingers, "Damn it Maria!"

"Axel…?" Demyx called, confused by the sudden situation, "What did she do?"

With a growl, Axel drove his fist into the translucent wall, "She dove."

"Dove?"

"Into the Light Keeper's heart." Zexion clarified, crossing his arms, "It seems the dark one cares more than she lets on."

"So what?" Larxene snarked, clearly bored, "If she dies in there, what's it matter? We only need the one; what's one little Light Keeper worth?"

"Evidently more than you, Twelve." came Vexen's snide comment, moving back over to his computer console to input the recent events, "Otherwise Xemnas would not have sent us to retrieve her, would he?"

"Why you sniveling old man-!"

The Savage Nymph made to charge at that, knives already dancing on her fingers before a sharp wave of rose petals burst in front of her. Causing her to train her gaze on her murderous companion, "Larxene." Came the velvet soft words. His sweet smile betraying the sheer killer intent lying behind his eyes, "Now is not the time. Let us see how this will play out, no? After all, some roots are far more stubborn to snuff out."

Huffing, the Nymph allowed her blades to crackle away to nothing, turning to leave, "Fine. But don't expect me to sit around and watch." Her words were accented by the sharp clicking of her heels as she retreated from the lab, hands on her hips as she left, "I've got better things to do with my time."

There was a collective sigh of appreciation at her departure before the group turned to the only remaining women in the room, Xaldin's rumbling voice stating what everyone was thinking but refused to say, "So now we wait. For either their awakening, or their end."

Axel turned his gaze back to the auburn haired girl, speaking in barely a whisper, "Kid, what were you thinking..?"

It was easy, the fall. To fall into your mind and all it holds.

And she was getting fucking sick of it.

Listening to some manipulative ass you just met. I swear, when this over I'll kill you myself. So wake the fuck up! These were the only words running through Maria's mind as she fell down into the encompassing white of the girl's heart.

Read and review, lovelies~! Hopefully this really long chapter makes up for not updating in a while. XD