"Hey, Saïx," Axel waved as he entered the Gray Area. Beside the Lunar Diviner were Xaldin and Larxene. "Did Xerisa already leave?" He knew the answer, Xerisa was waiting just outside the room.
"She hasn't shown up yet," Saïx said, a little annoyed.
"Good, at least she's not around," Axel said, scanning the room.
"What happened?" Saïx asked.
"I was snooping around her room yesterday," Axel began.
"Find anything?" Saïx inquired.
"Not before she burst in on me," Axel said.
"And you're still alive?" Larxene asked.
"I'm as surprised as you are," Axel went on. "She was pissed at first, but then she cooled down. We had a little conversation."
"About what?" Saïx asked.
"Sora," Axel said. "Mostly about work. I brought it up casually, in case she knew something she wasn't saying."
"Did she?" Xaldin asked.
"She might have," Axel said. "She started to say something she didn't mean to, and then quickly shooed me out."
"Think you can get it out?" Saïx asked.
"Maybe," Axel shrugged.
"Change of plans," Saïx turned to the two Nobodies on his left, "Xaldin, you are paired with Larxene and are going to Agrabah."
"WHAT?!" Larxene exclaimed in outrage.
"You heard him," Xaldin said, "let's move."
Axel chuckled. "Don't think she'll be having much fun with him."
"That's the general idea," Saïx replied. "Time for fun is long since over. Now, you will be paired with Xerisa."
"Of course," Axel said.
"You two are on your way to Radiant Gardens," Saïx went on.
"Didn't we look there first for Sora?" Axel asked. "And double-checked a few days ago?"
"We're triple-checking now," Saïx said. "We have to search all the worlds we know of again because we have found nothing thus far."
"I see…." Axel said.
"About time you showed up," Saïx snapped, making Axel blink with surprise.
"Hey, there you are," Axel turned to see Xerisa standing behind him. "Guess what, we get to go on a mission together again!"
"Where to?" there was a hint of annoyance in Xerisa's voice, but her overall tone was bleak and dutiful, as if she were just complying with formalities.
"Radiant Gardens," Saïx said.
Xerisa nodded and created a dark corridor with her right hand. Axel stepped into it first and Xerisa followed. "Was your idiocy really necessary?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Axel said.
"Bullshit," Xerisa spat. "Anyway, slow down a bit."
"Why?" Axel stopped. "Where are we going anyway? How are we going to find Sora?"
"I can keep track of people I've placed in a trance while they're still affected by it," Xerisa explained, "so I know exactly where he is."
"Which is…?" Axel asked.
Xerisa ignored him and walked out of the dark corridor. With a sigh, Axel followed. They were in a world that Axel had never seen before. They stood on a rocky shore facing a huge white wall that was in the water a short distance away and curved, surrounding them.
"Wonder what's inside that wall," Axel said.
"We are on the inside of that wall, stupid," Xerisa said.
Axel looked over at her with an indignant look, only to see that she was facing the other way. Behind them was an enormous sea-side castle that the wall surrounded. "Is he in there?!"
"Nope," Xerisa replied. "He's over here." Without warning, she dove head-first, into the water, splashing Axel in the process.
"Wha?! Hey!" Axel exclaimed. "Wait a second, you want me to swim?!"
"Stay there if you want," Xerisa said, "you were the one who wanted to come along. Just sayin', you're trespassing as it stands."
Axel blinked a few times, thinking about what she had said. "Fine," he grumbled. He picked up the end of his robe in a rather sissy manner and waded into the water. "How far out is he?"
"Quit complaining!" Xerisa snapped and dove again. Amidst the spray she created as she turned, there was a smear of something purple trailing behind her that Axel couldn't see clearly.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Axel wondered aloud. Suddenly, his feet went out from under him and Xerisa pulled him under the water, which was surprisingly deep this close to shore. Axel struggled for the surface, expecting her to release him after the initial gag was over, but she didn't. She only pulled him to the wall.
She stopped, removed a bar from the gate that was at the bottom of the wall, and pulled him along through it. Axel flailed and struggled as they went further from the surface. Has she lost it completely?! We'll drown!
"Oh shut up and open your eyes," Xerisa spat, finally releasing him.
At first, Axel made a mad dash for the surface, but was already running out of air. He couldn't manage to hold his breath much longer. No way! I'm not gonna die like this! How lame would it be to be taken down my water!? Demyx would laugh.
He suddenly felt a pain jabbing his stomach and he, involuntarily, opened his mouth. The seconds dragged on for hours as he watched the cloud of precious air bubbles bob to the surface. Unable to stop himself, he took a big gasping breath, filling his lungs with water.
"There, better now?" Xerisa asked.
"How can you possibly think I…" Axel stopped short; he wasn't dead. He was breathing just fine as if he were on dry land. He was also floating in the same general location, not rising or falling. He got a good look at Xerisa for the first time since she'd dove under. Her Organization robe had been replaced by a tank-top with a swirl of blue and purple meshed all over it. She had a necklace with a feather on it that swished gracefully in the gentle current. Below her waist her body tapered to a scaly point where her feet should be and gradually changed from its orangey-brown color to a mix of purple hues. Coming off of this scaly tail were a pair of transparent fins that fluttered to keep her stationary, and below that, streams of fins in every shade of dark blue and purple imaginable flowed lazily in the current; it was quite pretty, to be honest.
Axel then got a good look at himself. He was top-less and his body, too, sloped into a tail instead of feet. His own tail was striped with orange and white with two small fins on the side and a large orange tailfin.
"I'm going to guess you finally figured it out," Xerisa said.
"H…how are you…? How did we…!?" Axel was too stunned to even formulate the question.
"Magic," Xerisa said. "There's a sort of magic around some worlds, your dark corridors just go around them more often than not. It's usually to change one's appearance to better blend with the locals, but here in Atlantica, it has a more practical purpose."
"So….this is a world of mermaids?" Axel asked. "Is Sora affected by this magic too?"
"I would assume so," Xerisa said. "Records say he has been here more than once. He's also visited the Pride Lands, which are home to mostly lions, and obviously was able to navigate Neverland."
"But we got here through a dark corridor," Axel said, "how did the magic affect us?"
"I have my methods," Xerisa said slyly.
"So where is Sora now?" Axel asked.
"I'm sure he's heading to the palace," Xerisa said, diving lower. "It would be less of a hassle to go there and wait than track down his current location and follow him."
"What if he's already been there and we missed him?" Axel asked.
"Then we ask around," Xerisa said, swimming up to a large castle with twirled towers. She swam right through the entrance as if she lived there.
"Shouldn't we, like, knock or something?" Axel asked, looking around as he hesitantly followed.
"On what door?" Xerisa asked. "If they wanted to keep people out, they should have one." She stopped in a large room surrounded only by pillars, and was otherwise exposed to the open sea. "Besides, no one's around."
"All the more reason to stay out," Axel said.
"Oh, yea, cause you have such a huge ethical problem with trespassing when the owner of the room is away," Xerisa sassed.
Axel frowned at the remark, but said nothing.
"Well this is careless," Xerisa swam up to a golden, shell-shaped chair. Beside it was a stand that looked like a gush of gold liquid spouting from the floor, which held a trident.
"What, leaving a giant fork laying around?" Axel asked.
Xerisa turned around and glared at him with narrowed eyes. "It's King Triton's trident! He shouldn't leave it lying around where anyone could just-" She reached out and grabbed the trident. It glowed when she touched it, but when she tried to pull it up, it wouldn't budge. "Oh, nevermind. Seems pretty secure. My guess is there's an enchantment on it that prevents anyone but the king from removing it."
"Smart move, since I'm sure it's valuable," Axel said.
"Figured that out by yourself, did ya?" Xerisa spat. She stopped suddenly. "Someone's coming!" She grabbed Axel's arm and ducked behind a large rock that looked like a layered shell.
"So now we're hiding?" Axel muttered. "What happened to 'asking around'?"
"What happened to 'covert operation'?" Xerisa shot back.
Again, Axel said nothing. There's no point in trying to play mind games with her; she wins them all!
They watched as two mermen draped a white table cloth with gold trim over a stone table off to the left of the throne. Two mermaids followed right behind them with three covered dishes and a stick of coral that looked like a candle.
"Wah!" The cry was hushed as if the person who made it did not want to be heard. Now beside them was a mermaid with black hair tied back in a low ponytail, a walrus, and a penguin.
"Uh oh, we're busted," the penguin said.
"Why are you sneaking around the palace?" Xerisa demanded.
"Why are you sneaking around the palace?" the other mermaid countered.
"Touché," Xerisa said. "We're looking for someone. A mer-kid with spiky brown hair."
"He probably has a brunette and a guy with white hair with him too," Axel added.
"Um…nope, haven't seen anyone like that," the mermaid said.
"We just got here," the walrus added.
"'Just got here'?" Axel repeated, "where did you come from?"
"Yes, don't all merpeople live in Atlantica?" Xerisa asked, leaning forward and raising an eyebrow.
"I…I mean them!" the mermaid said quickly. "Penguins and walruses live where it's cold out. I brought them here for the first time, right guys?"
"You brought us?" the penguin asked.
"Of course I did," the mermaid said, sounding nervous. "what Mermaid wouldn't know where Atlantica was?"
Even I can tell she's lying, Axel thought. But what's she hiding? Does she know where Sora is?
"Well, there's Triton," Xerisa's whisper startled Axel. Their unexpected guest was nowhere to be found. Xerisa, instead, peeked over the rock and watched a white-bearded merman pace back and forth in front of the throne. "If anyone would know where Sora is it'd be him or his daughter."
"Are you going to ask him?" Axel asked.
Triton sat down in the thrown, slouching. He rested his chin on his arm and took out a large light purple shell, studying the inside with a downcast expression.
"Doesn't look like a good time," Xerisa muttered. "Wonder what the problem is."
"Can't you tell?" Axel asked.
"I have a limited range," Xerisa said simply, but then tensed up after saying it.
"What?" Axel asked.
"Nothing," Xerisa muttered, then cursed under her breath.
Merpeople bustled around with plates and dishes, apparently setting up for lunch. Triton looked up with a start as if realizing something. "We haven't time for this!" he exclaimed. "I want every available merman searching! Find her!" He pounded his fist on the table in anger. "FIND HER!" He tossed the table aside as if it were made of paper, revealing under it the little mermaid and her two animal companions. He turned away in the process of flipping and didn't even notice them.
"Wow, fail," Xerisa whispered.
The walrus and penguin darted back under the table as it settled again. The mermaid scurried into the shadows and hid behind one of the topiaries that was on either side of where the table had been. A slight clattering was heard and the table began to tremble. Triton noticed this and swam over to investigate. He reached out and gripped the table cloth.
The sound of trumpets was heard and a tiny seahorse wearing a frilled collar swam up to Triton. "King Triton, your daughter and her friends have returned."
The king abandoned the table and followed the seahorse out of the palace.
"Right on time," Xerisa said. "C'mon." She swam out into the open sea through another opening and went back around the front. There she saw King Triton greeting a red-haired mermaid who was followed by none other than Sora, Riku and Kairi. Sora had the tail of a dolphin, Riku's was a shark, and Kairi had a normal mermaid tail, but pink and a matching shell bikini.
"Wow, you were right," Axel said.
"Get used to it," Xerisa sassed.
"We looked everywhere," Sora said.
"There's no sign of Melody," Kairi said with a sigh.
"Have you found anything, Daddy?" the red-head asked.
"Nothing at all," Triton sighed.
The mermaid's head hung and she looked about ready to cry.
"Don't worry, Ariel," Triton said, holding her head in his hand and lifting her face to meet his, "I'm sure she'll turn up soon."
"I still don't know why we're looking underwater for a human kid," Riku said. "She wouldn't be down here long."
"I told you, Melody loves the sea," Ariel said. "It's a part of her, like it's a part of me. That's the only place she could be."
"The sea's a big place," Kairi commented.
"That's why we have to keep searching," Triton insisted.
"Melody…" Xerisa wondered aloud. She looked back at Axel, then at the merpeople in front of them. "Stay," she commanded Axel, then swam off towards Sora.
Axel's first reaction was to call out to her about what she was doing, but he knew that it would not be best if Sora spotted him.
Xerisa rolled onto her back and put her arms behind her head as she drifted by the keyblade master.
"You there!" Triton pointed at her.
Xerisa opened one eye. "Me?"
"Yes, you!" Triton snapped, "what are you doing?! You should be searching!"
"For what?" Xerisa asked.
"My granddaughter!" Triton snapped, apparently fuming at the idea that someone hadn't heard.
"I'm gonna need more to go on than that," Xerisa said, still not even bothering to open both eyes.
"She's a 12-year-old girl," Ariel explained, "she's my daughter, so there's some resemblance. Her hair is like mine only black, and she has teal blue eyes."
"Reddish pink tail?" Xerisa asked.
It's that girl we saw! Axel thought. She's who they're looking for! That explains a lot! But wait…didn't they say….
"No, she's human," Sora said, shaking his head.
"Wait, did you see a mermaid like that?!" Ariel asked.
"Yea, in the palace a minute ago, why?" Xerisa asked.
"Daddy, it could be her!" Ariel cried. "Let's go!"
"Yo, Spike," Xerisa said, turning right-side up.
"Who, me?" Sora asked, turning to her as Ariel and Triton left. Kairi and Riku stopped too.
"All three of you," Xerisa said, "you don't look familiar. Where'd you come from?"
"We're not from around here," Riku said.
"I knew that," Xerisa spat, "I said where are you from? And what's your business here?"
"We're traveling to different worlds to find something called the Chamber of Waking," Kairi seemed more willing to talk.
"What's it look like?" Xerisa asked, "apparently I'm on a roll at finding things."
"We don't know," Sora said. "We only received a letter from the King telling us to find it."
"Anything yet?" Xerisa asked.
"Why do you care so much?" Riku asked suspiciously.
"Sheesh, I was just trying to help," Xerisa said indignantly. "Do you even know what these things are?"
"Not really," Sora admitted. "We assume we'll know it when we see it."
"Hm," Xerisa said. "Well, with so little info, I can't help. Sounds like you guys are gonna be on your own."
"Thanks anyway," Kairi said.
Xerisa nodded and swam back towards Axel. "Let's go," she whispered, grabbing his arm as she swam by. She pulled him around a large rock covered in coral.
"Wait," Riku stopped and turned back, but they were already out of sight.
"What is it, Riku?" Kairi asked.
"She said 'these things,'" Riku said, "'Do you even know what these things are?' We were only talking about the Chamber of Waking."
"What's your point?" Sora asked.
"She knew something," Riku said, "more than she was letting on. I think she was just trying to find out what we knew."
"Oh c'mon, Riku," Kairi said, "you're imagining things! She was only trying to help! Besides, she's from around here, and once we leave she'll stay here."
"But we're here," Riku said, "and we're not from around here. Anything's possible."
"We'll keep a lookout, K?" Sora said. "Now, c'mon, we gotta catch up with Ariel."
"Damnit," Xerisa cursed, "and I was doing so well too!"
"Looks like you won't be able to approach Sora again," Axel said. "But, hey, you did pretty good there." She's a good liar, he thought, this isn't a good thing….
Xerisa grinned sinisterly. "C'mon, let's head back. Saïx is going to wonder soon, and then a simple 'no sign of Sora' isn't gonna cut it."
Axel nodded and followed Xerisa into the dark corridor she created and they arrived in the Gray area. Axel headed over to Saïx and Xerisa followed, which was odd.
"Anything?" Saïx asked.
"Nothing," Axel said, "the whole mission was a flop. No information at all."
"No sign of Sora either?" Saïx asked.
Axel shrugged. "Maybe Luxord's right, maybe he did head home. Besides, what could they be after? There doesn't seem to be any evil uprising that needs to be stopped."
Saïx said nothing, which actually surprised Axel. If he didn't know better, he would agree with himself that there's nothing for Sora, but Saïx must be thinking of something else. "Isn't that right?"
Saïx looked at Xerisa then at Axel.
"I'm gone," Xerisa said and left the Gray Area.
"What's up?" Axel asked.
"Xemnas has been more insistent that we find the Chamber of Waking," Saïx said.
"Why?" Axel asked. "What's the big deal with them?"
"Believe it or not, there are things the Superior won't even share with me," Saïx said. "I have also noticed that he's absent from the Hall Where Nothingness Gathers more often."
"So you think something's up?" Axel asked.
"If he hasn't confided in us," Saïx said, "it's either of no consequence, or extremely sensitive and disastrous."
"My guess is the second one," Axel said.
To Axel's surprise, Saïx nodded. "We can only hope for the best if he won't inform us, but one can't help but worry."
Axel hadn't worried much at all up until just now. Now he was worried. If Saïx is worried, this must be serious.
"Do you know something you're not telling me?" Saïx asked, obviously noting Axel's changing expression.
"Huh? Me?" Axel asked. "No, no. I was just thinking that this must be serious. I mean, you aren't the type to worry."
"I see…" Saïx said. "Well, you two were the last to return, I suppose I should go report the bad news."
"Tell the Superior I said 'hi!'" Axel joked as Saïx left. Despite his usually outgoing attitude, Axel was starting to feel uneasy. What if Xerisa's activities are making things worse? What if she's the cause? What if me going along with her is really bad? What if I royally screwed up?