IV
Xanamas had traveled to the enemy's base in secret, and kept hoping that she truly had slipped away unseen. Her worst fear was that if Karax or Xemnas caught her. Either way, it wouldn't be pretty. She had snuck into the castle and skulked through the hallways of the castle. The inside of it was slightly different than Castle Oblivion, but was the same color: white.
"Just can't get caught..." She was looking around frantically, constantly turning around to watch her back. Eerie sounds filled the hallways, and it began to worry her, especially once her arm was in the hands of an organization member.
"A spy? Hm. Come with me." The one who had capturned her was Saix, the Luna Divider. He threw her hood of, and his eyes grew slightly wider. "You're barely an adult... And so beautiful..." He hardly showed emotion, but it was easy enough to tell that he was in love with her beauty. As she struggled to get free his grip grew tighter. "You aren't going anywhere..." He was leading her through halls and pathways, and they soon found themselves on on altar where the whole world could be seen clearly.
By this time, Xananmas had agreed to go along, so Saix's grip on her wrist had been removed, and she was walking by herself. "Who're you?" She could only tell that the man who she stood behind had silverish hair.
Saix said a few words and then left. The man who Xanamas was standing behind turned around, revealing his orang-y/gold eyes. His voice was deep. "I should be asking that question..." The light of the heart-shaped moon made his hair look even shinier. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm... I don't think that... Oh, what do I do...!?" She turned around, letting her back face the leader of Organization XIII. "Um... My name is Xanamas... Uh... I'm... I go by.., the...the Mysterious Manipulator... Uh, I, uh..." She backed away and looked away from him. That was when a wall of darkness formed around the altar, trapping both of them.
"We're not done, Mysterious Manipulator..." He looked into her eyes and saw something that he deidn't see in most Nobodies. "Tell me... Do you work for someone? What's your goal?"
"What makes you think that I'm gonna tell you!?" Xemnas was pointing his light sabre-ish weapon at her throat... "Ok... Um... I work for a woman called Karax... She wants to kill you. I swear that's all...!"
His weapon disappeared and the wall of blazing darkness faded. "Her...? So she's come back for revenge... Does she have allies?" Their eyes met and both of them smiled. Xanamas explained everything, including each of the Nobodies that sided with her. "So, Axel and Xigbar have betrayed me, and Luxord and Demyx are dead... You could be very useful to us... Willing to join?"
She laughed at his offer. "Sorry, but if I turn my coat, who knows what she'll do to me... I already seem suspicious seeing as how I left without a word and that I've been gone for over five hours..." She looked at the strange moon. "I could work for you, but not as an official member... Y'know, spy on her and her little group."
"I like that idea." He snapped his fingers, and both Saix and Xaldin appeared. "We have a new field agent. Please welcome Xanamas to our ranks. As she has informed us, seven Nobodies, including her, are living in Castle Oblivion and plan on destroying the Organization. At all costs, they must be stopped." He walked to the railing and stared at the moon. "Xanamas, you will go back to your world and return here once you have beneficial information. Understand that we're counting on you for here on in... Don't...let...them...catch...you." He was pointing at her as he said every word.
"Don't worry." She smirked and made a few crude remarks. "You have my assistance... She treats me like a kid, and frankly, I hate getting all of the crappy missions. Any information that you want, I can get it for you..." She turned away from him. "There's only one thing... What if Karax or any of the others suspect something? I won't be able to hide this forever."
"Don't worry about that..." Saix and Xaldin vanished. Xemnas was leaving as well, but he kissed her on the forehead before he left and whispered into her ear. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, whole or not..."
Xanamas was in a slight disbelief. She laughed and then faded into the darkness to return home.
----- -----
In the lounge, six Nobodies were either standing, sitting or leaning while waiting for their leader. Xanamas had return, and everything was back to normal. Zyrex was awake again, and kept glaring at the doorway.
"Sorry I'm late. I had to take care of a few things... Now..." Karax looked around the room at her followers. "Well, did anyone come up with a name for the group or a plan that we can use to our advantage?"
Rainthrax stood up and crossed here arms. "I was able to come up with a few formations, but only one seemed advantageous." She looked at them and they all nodded. "Well, I start with the frontline. Heading the attack is Xanamas, and myself. In the middle, we have Zyrex and Xanadu..." She was drawing it based on their numbers. "...Karax, since you, Axel, and Xigbar use long-ranged attacks, you'll be heading up the rear. The front line takes care of close-comnbat, the middle holds the enemies with semi-ranged attacks, while the rear holds them back by taking them out at a good range. I've based this on weapons and fighting styles only."
"It's still good. Anyone else, or is this all that we have to go on?"
Zyrex walked forward. He had a few small cuts on his face, as well as a few bruises. "I got a name..."
"Shoot."
"We could call ourselves AXIS." Everyone's head turned to him. "What!?" A few of them laughed.
"AXIS? Dude, what the hell does it stand for!?" Xigbar had a strange smile on his face.
"It doesn't stand for anything. It just...for lack of a better phrase...popped into my head." He walked over to one of the walls and leaned against it. "I was bored, so I kept thinking about random things. There's nothing wrong with it." He was getting several doubtful looks from his comrades. "I was bored!"
Karax looked around. "Well, since nobody else had anything for us to go on, we call ourselves the same thing we have already, which is nothing. As for battle strategies, I'll file it. For now, we wait. I want to have a plan B." She looked at Rainthrax. "See if you can come up with something else." She glanced at Xanamas. "I want to talk to you. The rest of you can leave."
Once they were gone, Karax sat opposite of Xanamas, and didn't speak for ten minutes. "Where were you?"
"Just out and about."
"You're lying."
She looked at Karax who was still staring at the ground. "No I'm not. I was just out scouting the area."
"No you weren't. You were someplace else... The World That Never Was, to be exact... You can't lie to me, and you can't control my mind. What makes you think you can decieve me?" She sat back, put her legs up on the table, and crossed her arms.
"I'm not trying to decieve you. What makes you think that?"
"The scent on your hair... It's different than normal... You've been with someone..." She looked up and smiled. "It's no one from our group, no... someone from Organization XIII..."
"Ok, so I was hanging out with Axel earlier." Xanamas shrugged. "What are you, an hound?"
"DON'T YOU DARE PLACE ME IN THE SAME CATEGORY AS SAIX!!! But to answer your question, no. The wind is carrying the scent that's on your hair..." She stood and turned her back to the Mysterious Manipulator. "I know that you're lying, and I will find out the truth." She did something with her hands, and Xanamas clutched the area where her heart once was. "This is a sample of the pain, a thousand times less what you will feel when I do find out what happened. If you come clean now...well, I'm feeling kind of graious today, so it'll only be ten times worse. You remember what happened to Zyrex don't you?"
"Uh..." Her voice was broken, and she stammered repeatedly.
"I thought you would... It'll be worse than that. Much...much...worse..." Karax vanished, leaving Xanamas all alone.
Xanamas breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Karax hadn't figured it out. The only thing that worried her was that Karax had guessed right about her being with members of Organization XIII in The World That Never Was. "At least she didn't figure out the truth..." She walked to the oversized window and watched as the darkness swirled outside. She sighed again. "What do I choose? My friends, or my ambitions..."