Queen's Quornor: Ok, both and my computer are being bitches at the moment, so there is no summary or disclaimer for this chapter. Refer to previous chapters if thou shouldst desire to readest those offerings. As always, please read and review! And yes, 'upspake' is indeed a word. Oh, if you want to know what Onyx's hair looks like, think of a style that's a cross between Nero the Sable, Shalua Rui, and Riku's hair (hope you've played Dirge of Cerberus, or you'll just have to find the first two on the Net somewhere).

Shattered Darkness

When we got back to the castle, Demyx met us at the entrance to the castle-wing that held the living quarters. He told us that Xemnas had called a meeting, and that it was essential that all members of the Organization were present. Neither I nor Onyx had any idea what this was about, but we called our darkness and teleported to the Throne Room, directly onto our respective high chairs. We were the last to arrive; everyone else had been waiting for us.

I searched around just in case this was about another Nobody - was Organization XIII about to be upgraded to Organization XIV? - but there was no-one standing in the center of the room. I looked at Onyx; she was just as confused as I was.

I can remember that entire horrible night. The things that were said... I can't erase them from my head. Maybe if I put them down here, they'll finally leave me alone. I hope.

Xemnas didn't waste time with the usual plesantries. He just looked at us with those gold hawk-eyes of his, and breathed a statement that made everyone's blood run cold.

"There is...a TRAITOR...among us."

All of us were staring at him now. He didn't say anything until prompted by Xaldin. "What do you mean, Esteemed Superior?"

"I mean precisely what I said. There is a traitor counted amongst our number, a Nobody that has joined within the past six months. One to whom we have extended our trust and our companionship, offering a place where they can be accorded power and honor while they await the reclaiming of their hearts, a home in this lonely existence we must call 'life.'"

I personally thought he was laying it on a bit thick, but then again this was Xemnas. He likes drama. In any case, he had said it was a member of the Organization who had joined within the past six months. That narrowed it down to four members: Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, and Onyx. They had all joined within that time-frame. I thought it was probably either Marluxia or Larxene. Heh, if this hearing had taken place a year later, I would have been absolutely right.

Xemnas continued with his rant for a while, talking about how this traitor had taken advantage of us and all that we offered them, blah blah blah, and then he finally got to the point. "And who do you think it is, my brothers and sisters in emptiness? Who do you believe has chosen to betray us, to cut us so deeply?"

"Might I ask a question?" It was Zexion who spoke up.

"Of course, VI." Fearless Leader sounded pleasant. Never a good thing.

"What exactly is this traitor planning on doing? What is so grievious that all of us are called to watch him or her singled out and summarily punished?" His eyes strayed to Marluxia as he said this. I wonder if he thought the Graceful Assassin was the traitor?

Xemnas smiled languidly as Zexion finished speaking, and placed his hand over the empty space in his chest, the empty spot all of us share. "Why, I would have thought that a brilliant mind such as yourself would be able to figure it out with ease. The traitor is planning to displace myself and all of my supporters, after swaying several of you over to the side of rebellion, and destroying the one thing we all desire more than anything else..." I leaned slightly forward at this point, my fingers tightening on the arms of my throne. If I had had a heart, it would have been hammering at the top of my throat. I knew what he was about to say. "...Kingdom Hearts."

"No!" The word burst from many throats simultaneously. I couldn't begin to tell you who spoke up and who remained silent; all I knew was that Onyx (her throne was directly across from mine) and I were two of the screamers.

"Yes, my brethren. This malcontent was planning on destroying that which all of us have worked so hard to create, to duplicate, and claiming it and this Organization for their own. Had this plot gone undetected, all of us would have moved so much closer to fading before our hearts became ours once more. Some of us may have even succumbed to the darkness before this third Kingdom Hearts was completed. None of us desire such a thing, and so the traitor has been ousted. Our Kingdom Hearts is safe."

"Who is the traitor?" Sa'ix upspake, his fingers digging holes into the stone that formed his throne. He looked outwardly calm, but I would be willing to be a couple thousand munny that he was enraged. Sa'ix does not, as a rule, lose control. Got it memorized?

Very good. Continuing on...

"Who told you of this?" I had to ask. "Who is your source, Xemnas?"

"My source is none of your concern, VIII. He came to me after the traitor attempted to lure him onto their side, and told me everything I needed to know. As for the identity of this miscreant..." He raised his arm high into the air, and then lowered it, index finger extended. I watched it come down almost in slow-motion. I had a very, very bad feeling I knew who he would be pointing at...

And I prayed to any god that was listening that I would be wrong.

"Her identity is none other than Number XIII. Onyx, the Maiden of Darkest Shadow."

Rarely am I so upset to be correct about a hunch.

As for Onyx, she looked as if her eyes were about ready to fall out of their sockets, bounce along the floor, and come to a stop at Fearless Leader's dull black boots. I could tell from that look alone, not just from all the time I had spent with her, that she was innocent of this crime. Onyx wanted her heart back as much as any of us, perhaps even more. Furthermore, she had told me more than once that she did not desire leadership. She just wanted to do her own thing, same as me. She'd only joined the Organization because she had no real choice in the matter.

"Well, XIII? What do you have to say in your defense?" Xemnas sounded almost amused. I wanted to kill him then. Still do. Bet I won't get a chance.

I could see her swallow hard, and try to speak a few times before she finally managed to get a word or three out. "Esteemed Superior, why would I do such a thing? I want my heart back as much as any of you do, and furthermore I would probably fade before another Kingdom Hearts could be completed as well. What reason would I have to dethrone you or any of my superiors, especially since I really do not desire a position of leadership? Destroying this Kingdom Hearts and displacing you would amount to a suicide attempt on my part!"

"True, it would be..." He seemed to consider this for a moment, and I genuinely thought he was going to dismiss this whole thing and let her go. Silly me. "But I trust my source a lot more than I trust you, XIII. My source has been in the Organization far longer than you, after all. He has given me no reason to distrust him."

Another reason I don't think Larxene played tall-tale stool pigeon. Xemnas said 'he,' not 'she.'

"I have always served you faithfully, Esteemed Superior. I have created more Nobodies than anybody else in the Organization, and consequently am personally responsible for most of the Heartless running around collecting hearts for our Kingdom Hearts. Nobody else wants this to succeed as much as I do. Why would I betray you for something so paltry to myself as the leadership of the Organization?" Her points were valid, but there was the slightest quiver in her voice. I don't think anyone else caught it, but I can't be sure. I mean, I only caught it because I've spent so much time around her. Trouble is, I think Fearless Leader may have heard it.

"True, you have." She relaxed slightly at that. "But you have betrayed the Organization, XIII, and for that you must be punished. Take her!" Samurai Nobodies came out of nowhere, landing on the arms of Onyx's throne and surrounding her with a cage of swords. She tried to escape into her darkness, but Larxene had a flash of intuition. She started calling down lightening bolts around Onyx's position, startling her and making her lose concentration. The Savage Nymph kept it up, lighting up the area so she couldn't utilize her powers and escape. Same principle that had worked against Onyx in my and Xigbar's fight with her: if there's too much light, she can't use her darkness. She was, for all points and purposes, trapped.

Her eyes flew to me, but as much as I wanted to help her, I couldn't do anything. I mean, we had something special, but I didn't want to be punished too. Especially not after we all found out the severity of the punishment.

Rumors had been passed around for years that Xemnas had the ability to turn a human-likeness Nobody into a Dusk, but we mostly just laughed them off. Xigbar, Xaldin, and Vexen were the only ones who didn't seem to be able to crack a grin at such an absurd statement.

I guess it's because they had seen the process. When I asked around later on, I found out that Numbers V through XII had never seen a member of the Organization turned into a Dusk. That means that the last time such a thing had occured, it had been prior to Lexaus' joining. I hadn't seen it happen before. I never would have dreamed Xemnas could actually do something like that.

Seems the bastard can.

"For high treason against your Superior and our Kingdom Hearts, I sentance you, Onyx, the Maiden of Darkest Shadow, Number XIII, to be transformed into a Dusk at midnight tommorow."

"Excuse me, Esteemed Superior." Sa'ix pointed a finger at her, looking almost as if he thought her to be some sort of slime scraped off the bottom of his boot. "But if she is to be punished, then why is she to have a full twenty-four hours to search for an opportunity to escape? Why not turn her now?"

"Because I want her to suffer. I want her to think about how she will never again be able to think for herself, how her precious freedom and independence will soon be lost forever. I want her to fall into despair, knowing that her individuality will be stolen away and her powers shall be transformed from something unique and nigh unmatchable into something mundane and all-too common." He smiled at her coldly. "Everything that she is will soon be gone, and she will be unable to attain it until her heart is returned to her, when our Kingdom Hearts is finished. I want her to sink into the deepest, darkest despair, knowing these things, and so she shall suffer. This, too, is a part of her punishment." He pointed to Xaldin and Larxene. "Take her to the dungeon. You will know her prison cell when you see it. It is the brightest one in the castle."

"With pleasure." Numbers III and XII took her away while the Samurai followed, Xaldin using his superior strength to keep her arms pinned behind her back and Larxene flashing her lightening everywhere, preventing any escape attempts on Onyx's part. As for my...whatever-she-was, she just bent her head forward so her long hair fell across her face, shielding it from view while she was paraded out of the room. But right before that wealth of blue-black hair slithered down from behind her shoulders and her top-knot pony-tail thing, I saw tears sliding down her cheeks to soak into the neckline of her robe.

This was wrong. She was innocent, but she was going to be, for all points and purposes, killed in twenty-four hours. I started looking around the room as inconspicuously as I could then, trying to see if I could find anyone who might have lied to Xemnas like that.

I could barely keep the flames under control as I noticed that Vexen was smiling.

I wanted to murder the bastard. I am still not one-hundred percent certain he was the perpetrator, but I am ninety-seven point nine percent convinced. Even if he wasn't the one who did it, he's the one I wanted to hurt the most. Nobody else was smiling as Onyx was led away. Nobody. Not even Larxene.

That's why I killed Vexen in Castle Oblivion. Yeah, I had other reasons to flame him to a well-done crisp, but that was the main reason. Far as I'm concerned, Onyx's blood is on his oh-so-clean hands. Too bad the Keyblade kid was there in the castle with his buddies, especially that white-haired kid. If I had had the time to spare, I would have made sure Vexen was begging for me to kill him by the time I was finished with him.

I normally don't indulge in torture or unnecessary pain. But for Vexen, I would have made an exception.

But my thoughts soon turned away from the Cold-Hearted Bastard (bad pun, I know. I don't think he had one in the first place) to the Maiden of Darkest Shadow. My woman. Knowing Xemnas, there would be no way she could possibly escape her undeserved fate tommorow.

I had to see her one more time.

Before the flame was extinguished forever.