Chappie 12 up!

This chapter kinda clarifies how the rest of the series will go for Dexn. Well, sort of. It also clarifies what the Organization's next move is.

Enjoy.

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Chapter Twelve: A New Plan

Xadmain sat in his chair, leaning forward, fingertips lightly against each other. He made no sudden movement as the clock chimed two.

The reason for being here today was a group meeting. All the members, minus Dexn, would be there. The purpose: to explain to them the new situation, and plan what the next move would be.

He hadn't been able to stop feeling shaken up ever since he saw that Keyblade. How was it possible for him to have received it? The only other time this had happened was when the former No. 13, Roxas, had fought with it. But that was all because he had been Sora's Nobody. And they couldn't go for Dexn's other because Dexn didn't have an other.

Did he?

No, it wasn't possible. It… just couldn't be so.

Before he could think anymore, the others started showing up. First, his loyals: Xoej, Drexan, Xhrics, and Xnohj. They all bowed- Xhrics somewhat stiffly- then sat down.

Moxt and Naxan showed up next. At first, Xadmain was completely and utterly shocked when the only real squabbles they got into these days were the minor, "just to annoy" kinds. Now, with a few nights good sleep, he no longer noticed it half the time- he even liked it.

Next up were the others: Naxst, Raulax, Zixl, Emylix, and Paxt. They all sat down the normal way, except for Naxst, who leaned back in his chair and propped his feet onto the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Xadmain began, "sorry for the short notice, but thank you for coming-"

"Yeah, just make it snappy," Moxt glanced at his watch, "I'm missin' my Saturday mornin' cartoons."

"Indeed, Xadmain, tell us the reason for this sudden meeting," Xhrics agreed.

Xadmain had not budged from his stance once during the arrivals and first exchange. Now he shifted a bit.

"I have come across something serious and wish to inform you of our current situation," he said.

Xnohj leaned forward like the eager beaver that he was. Paxt frowned slightly.

"This morning," Xadmain paused, then continued, "No. 13 received his weapon-"

"That's it?" exclaimed Moxt, "That's the big surprise? The hell's so big about that, Zixl took six months to pick hers!"

"Hey, you know what-" but before Zixl could finish, Paxt spoke up.

"I think it would be fair to let No. 1 finish what he was saying before we begin the usual petty bickering," he stated softly. Then he turned back to Xadmain. "Continue, sir."

No. 1 nodded. "As I was saying, Dexn has found his weapon-"

But again, Moxt just couldn't keep his mouth shut. "And again, I ask why you had to take time out of my day to have to tell us this virtually useless informa-"

"It was a Keyblade."

At this, the room suddenly went deathly still, broken only when Naxst, lost in surprise and confusion, fell backwards against his chair and landed on the floor. He wasn't the only one; Moxt looked like he had just swallowed a bottle of after-shave as he fell weakly back into his seat. Even Paxt and Xhrics, usually non-emotional members, could not conceal the surprise they felt. Only Drexan remained unmoving, as if he had been expecting this.

Finally, Xhrics, his voice hoarse as if he had been yelling for long periods of time, spoke up.

"Are…you certain of this?" he asked.

Xadmain nodded sullenly. "I saw it myself, no more than an hour ago."

Xnohj buried his head in his hands. Naxan stared into space.

"So we've been searching and all this time he's been right under out noses," she said more to herself than to the others.

"I can't believe it," Moxt covered his eyes under his glasses.

Xadmain decided to go on.

"This meeting is to decide what our next move shall be. As I'm sure you're all aware, the situation has changed dramatically. I'm open to suggestions."

He looked around down the table. Paxt spoke up.

"Well, for starters…" he looked over towards the fallen member, "Naxst, get up."

There was a heavy groan and a THUD! as Naxst picked himself and his chair off the floor. Paxt then continued.

"As far as the situation goes, we just take a different approach to it. As he is now, Dexn will have enough strength to wield the Keyblade as a Shadow does. What we need to do is teach him the ropes, get him into the position where, when the time comes, he will truly live up to the standard of the Keyblade master."

That was probably the sanest thing Xadmain had heard all day. And thing was, it just might work.

"Very well. For now, we just have to wait," he stood up, "In the meantime, Moxt, I'm leaving him in your care-"

"WHAAT! Aw, come on!" Moxt groaned and complained loudly, "Why do I gotta play Mrs. Doubtfire to Boy Wonder?"

"Two words, No. 8," Xadmain held up two fingers, "Direct. Order."

Moxt began cursing under his breath. Xadmain looked around at the others.

"All of you are not to tell him of the situation. As far as we know, he has no idea of the powers he possesses. I want it to stay that way. No mentioning the Keyblade, no telling of the stories, don't even mention our mission to him. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," came the response, not in unison, from his subordinates.

"Alright, dismissed." They all began to leave. "Except for you, Drexan. You stay."

No. 4 slowly slid back into his seat as the others got up and warped out. Raulax hesitated for a little while, but Drexan nodded for her to go and she did. It was just him and No. 1 now. Xadmain turned to the window, his back faced to his longtime friend. Neither spoke for a time. Finally-

"Did you know?" Xadmain asked.

Drexan didn't answer. He just stared ahead as if he hadn't comprehended the question.

"Drexan," Xadmain turned around, repeating his question a little louder now, "did you know?"

Drexan waited a few seconds before speaking. "If you're asking me if I knew there was something different about the boy… I did sense something in him. Something that had more light than darkness, off balance for a Nobody. His body shown more brightly than anything I had ever felt and I knew that, in some way, he was different," and here, he turned his head to his superior, "but if you're asking if I knew he was to be the wielder of the Keyblade, then my answer will have to be 'no'."

Xadmain nodded. His presumption was wrong; Drexan had not been withholding information. Drexan went on.

"Sir… I believe there may be more to this than we thought. I don't believe the search should be given up just yet."

Xadmain went back to his chair and sat. "How do you mean?"

"Well… how can a Nobody, a dezian of twilight, bear light? And not just any light, the light? The only possible answer would be that whoever he had been before had to have been the wielder."

No. 1 suddenly felt- for want of a better word- depressed. "So, that means he's gone now?" he looked down, "He really wasn't here."

"Somehow, I think he is. And not gone."

"How so? You know as well as I do once the Heartless get you, it's over."

Maybe, but not in this case."

"How can you be so sure?"

Drexan turned to him. "You tell me that Dexn's been suffering nightmares. What of?"

Xadmain half sighed, half laughed.

"They're just dreams, Drex," he told him. Drexan didn't remove his gaze, so he added, "I don't know, something about him finding a shadow version of himself. So?"

For one of the first times Xadmain had ever seen him, Drexan smiled.

"Sir, are you really that simple? If he's seeing a shadow version of himself, then that means there is a shadow version and it's still out there. Nobodies shouldn't dream of their originals unless, by some miracle, they're still fully functional in the world."

"So… the real wielder is still alive." Hope began to restore itself.

"At the least, his body is stuck in limbo between here and the shadow world. Give me time, I'll find him," insisted Drexan.

"Alright. You may go."

No. 4 began to leave when Xadmain, again standing by the window, said, "Not a word of this to anyone, No. 4."

Drexan nodded and warped out. Xadmain looked back out the window, now filled with greedy pleasure.

The end of this appeared to be in sight.

88888

Down in the gun range, Moxt and Naxan were having their own discussion. Moxt was doing target practice while Naxan just sat and talked.

"I mean, I always knew something was weird about him, but I never thought this," she said, "It's so weird."

"Nax, it could be worse. At least you don't gotta spend 24/7 with Superkid," Moxt grumbled, taking a shot that hit the bull's-eye, "I probably gotta change the kid's diapers."

Naxan laughed. Moxt just fired another round.

"No offense, Nax, but I don't think we're gonna be hanging out as much for now," he told her, "Something tells me the Boss wants all attention focused on the kid."

"So this is the game you play? Bring me in and then break my heart?" she said, mock-heartbroken, faking a sniffle.

"Shaddap," he answered with a smirk.

"Fine. I understand, you're done with me," she continued with the act, "It's alright. I didn't want to tell you earlier, but you were starting to cramp my style anyway."

"Hey, being stuck with you ain't been no walk in the park for me either, Princess," Moxt said, mock-annoyed.

Silence soon fell, kind of an awkward one, broken by the loud magnum being fired.

"So, you think we can have one more day of just the two of us?" she asked finally.

"We're having it," was the answer.

And that's how they spent their last afternoon of just the two of them.

88888

Up on the roof, Drexan and Raulax sat in complete and stony silence. The wind was really up today, which made it cold, but they made no movements. Neither knew what to say.

"Well… this is a surprise turn of events," Drexan finally said.

"Indeed," responded Raulax.

The wind picked up. Raulax shivered a little.

"Do you want to go back inside?" asked Drexan.

"No," she sighed, "I can't go back in there. Not with Naxst freaking out and Xnohj trying to calm himself with a game of chess. Everyone's wigging out."

"You can't blame them," he stated, "it was the one thing none of us could've seen coming."

"Even you?"

"Especially me."

Raulax looked over at him. Drexan just sighed.

"Look at me- I have the ability to detect persons and objects with my mind and yet I can't find someone that rooms two doors over from me. How pathetic."

"You're not pathetic… how could you think to look at one of our own? I wouldn't."

Drexan smiled at the futile but nevertheless exceptional way for her to try and cheer him up.

"The thing is… now everything's going to change."

"Yeah, well," Raulax looked up at the stars, "If it didn't change, then we would never get our hearts back."

All she got was a sigh. So she decided on a different approach.

"Look at the stars."

"What? That's your plan? Getting me to look at the filthy stars?"

"Just look. That's an order."

Drexan sighed. She took being No. 3 way too seriously sometimes. Nevertheless, he looked up.

"Alright, now what?"

"OK, now- if what the legends say are true, then each star represents a planet. And those planets are all the planets we've visited looking for the power to get our hearts back."

"Uh-huh…so?"

"So, look at all of them. We've been on all of them. And it's here that we found our chances of achievement. It's here that we succeed."

Drexan finally saw it. Here was victory- they were on the winning planet, staring up at all the losers. The end of the road.

"I see," he said softly.

"We won, Drex. We all won."

88888

Down in the training room, Paxt was busy swinging his scythe around. There was something about today's train, however, that was different from the rest. For the first time, Emylix, sitting and watching, felt uncomfortable to be around him. He looked scary; almost like he would snap into his Dragoon stage at any moment.

"Is it as serious as that?" she asked him finally when he stopped, panting.

"Oh, it's every bit as serious as that," he growled, his eyes having some weird demonic look to it through his dark glasses, "Maybe even more so."

"Why, though?" she couldn't get it, "I mean, this should be a good thing, shouldn't it? We'll get our hearts back-"

"You wouldn't understand," Paxt broke in.

"What won't I understand?"

"You just… look, I wanna be alone right now, OK?"

Emylix got up. "No, no way, you're concerned and I wanna know why-"

"DON'T YOU GET IT!" he suddenly screamed in her face, causing her to flinch, "It's happening all over again! That's why I'm pissed!"

"What's happening all over again?"

"The incident ten years ago! The one that brought the old Organization down. Didn't you ever hear of it?"

"I-I heard that someone betrayed them and-"

"No, not that bit! Their No. 13- he was the same as Dexn, ended up with the Keyblade as his weapon. And it turned out he was Sora's Nobody."

Slowly, realization started to hit. "You think… he's still out there?"

"I don't know!" There was helplessness in Paxt's voice, "I don't know anything! But I know that everything's gonna change. We may be knee deep in shit we can't get out of."

Emylix had never seen him so worked up, at least not like this. He had kept it so collected in Xadmain's office, but now… he seemed so lost.

"Hey," she picked his head up, "It's alright. Nothing all thirteen of us can't handle. Especially with guys like Moxt and Naxst… and you, of course. We'll be fine."

He backed away and sighed.

"I just… I need some space."

She didn't know what to do, except look at the ground. He looked at her, sorry-like. She nodded.

"Alright… well… you know where to find me."

And she was gone. Paxt transformed his scythe into the hacky-sack and began throwing it in the air, trying to keep his nerves together.

He himself really didn't know what had him so shaken up. They could contain this threat- they were stronger than the original Org. XIII bastards. Gone were the days of wussy Demyx and no-weapon Zexion, defensive Vexen and flower boy Marluxia. They were replaced with psychopathic Naxst, martial arts master Xoej, relentless Naxan and hardcore Xhrics.

Suddenly, he was filled with satisfaction. Yes… there was no need to fear. Their Keyblade master would do their every bidding. Everything would be perfect.

And it weren't, and he cause problems… then there was gonna be consequences.

No one messed with the new Organization XIII.

88888

The door came open as Xhrics and Zixl burst in. Xhrics came out of the meeting to now not saying a word. Zixl couldn't shut up.

"Jeez," she said, "This… This is messed up. I mean, really! How can that brat have the Keyblade? Kid isn't worthy enough to tie my shoes, let alone the Boss's. How screwed are we, you know what I'm talking-"

But she was stopped suddenly by laughter. A further inspection told her that the laughter was coming… from Xhrics.

Xhrics never laughed.

"Um… Xhrics?" she asked. His response was his raising the level of his laughter. No. 12 was starting to get a little freaked out now. But she got really freaked when he suddenly burst out in hysterical laughter, slamming his fist onto the table and the likes.

Oh God, she thought, he's finally snapped. All this is finally killing his brain.

"Don't worry, I'll go get Drexan or someone, he'll help," she turned to the door when SLAM! His axe rammed right into it, causing her to jump away. Xhrics stood back up, all trace of laughter gone.

"No way that bastard scientist is gonna get in on this," he growled.

"O..OK," she stammered. His grin was back.

"I figured it out finally," he said, "When Xadmain let that whole thing slip, I had an epiphany. All this time, we've been searching for something we didn't think existed. But now, not only does it exist, but it's been in our possession the whole time. What does that tell you?"

"Um… that we can't find a needle in a haystack?"

"WAKE UP!" he clapped his hands in front of her face, "It means that we're on a whole different level. And where there's a Nobody Keyblade wielder… there's his other."

"Soooo…… I still don't get it."

"They're all up in arms over the copy, while we- we will go for the original."

Zixl just stared at him as if he had gone insane.

"Xhrics, I may not be one of the major members of this Organization, but even I know what happens to anyone who gets killed by a Heartless."

"What you know can't define what can happen to a being so immersed in light! The mere stature of the Heartless can't take away the heart of he who is destined to release them."

"You're serious?" She raised an eyebrow to him.

"As serious as I've ever been," Xhrics turned to the window, staring out towards the grounds, where Xoej was getting some Nobodies out, "And the kicker- Xadmain knows it too. But I'll be the one that gets to him."

"Where is this coming from?" she sat down, "I mean, since when are you such the loner? And further more, to take him as your own? What would you do?"

This time, he didn't answer. But she knew the gears in his head were spinning. What he was thinking of remained a mystery. She got up and was about to leave when she stopped, hand on the knob, not facing him.

"Everything's changed now," she said.

"No," he said, "In essence, nothing's changed."

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Couldn't think of a better ending.

Ooh, cliff! What's Xhrics planning? Why is he so intent with the original? Why-

Aw, hell, you've all played Chain of Memories. Why am I asking you?

Well, yeah, here. Not one of my better works, but whatever. Enjoy.

And review.