The Uprising

The hiatus is officially over! Hooray! Sorry about that… So, I missed the Uprising's one year anniversary, so I'm celebrating now. It is two or three months late, but I'm sure I can get over that. Well everything is back on track now, although I keep forgetting to add in plot points that I created a year ago. Hmm… I should keep a journal.

I feel like I wanted to tell you something, but I can't remember now.

Oh wait, it came to me! I beat Re:coded! Achievement! Was I on the easiest difficulty? Perhaps, but that's not important. The important thing is that I finally got past all of those dreadful bosses that I could have easily dispatched had I read the manual and known from the beginning about Command Conversion.

Sorry, getting off subject. I don't think anyone reads these anyway.

!_!

Mickey stared down at his gloved hands. Some Keyblade Master he had turned out to be. Once again he stood before his mentor, a complete and utter failure. This time was different, though, as his actions affected more than just himself. Sora and Riku were lost to the Organization, Kairi was nowhere to be found, and the worlds were falling to the Darkness. Disney Castle seemed farther away than ever. His home would be protected for now by the Cornerstone of Light, but for how long?

If Kingdom Hearts was lost, then no amount of light could banish the coming maelstrom.

Things had been going well for a moment. Ansem was defeated, the Door to Darkness sealed. The situation was salvageable, that is, until Castle Oblivion. Riku had been drawn into its basement levels when his heart reacted with Sora's and the King was luckily able to find him in time, but it hadn't been enough. Ansem still tainted his heart, and Zexion was able to draw out the darkness within. Mickey had watched helpless as his companion was manipulated into the tactician's servitude. Later, he had met up with none other than Donald and Goofy, who had also lost their ward to a Memory Witch being controlled by a mysterious entity known as Marluxia. Both Keys were gone.

And there was nothing to be done about it now.

But that didn't stop them from trying.

For months, the three of them took action, taking out legions of Nobodies, collecting vital information, and preparing Disney Castle for war. None of it really made a difference. It was just a skim of the surface, hardly taking the notice of any faction. They dare not attack a member directly. They had all lost too much to bear the thought of losing each other.

A single Keyblade Master and his court just weren't enough to take on the might of Organization XIII, even a fractured one. So the King went to the one person who had all of the answers, even if they weren't the one's Mickey wanted to hear. Yen Sid.

The trio had just finished telling their tale when the door behind them creaked open. Mickey's eyes widened in shock as he saw who was leading the pack of newcomers. Could it be the sage king he had met all those years ago? Wrapped in bandages and reeking of the darkness Mickey had sworn to destroy, but all the while familiar. Behind him, like a pack of faithful dogs, stood a group of teenagers, a moogle, and-

An Organization member.

"Look out behind you!" The King shouted. Mickey raised his Keblade, preparing to attack the red-haired Nobody, but hesitating at Goofy's shout. "That's that Axel feller!" That's when everyone began talking at once, drowning out any reason.

"Oh, so you've got it memorized, do you?"

"Mouse. Angry."

"Would you be interested in a more stylish wizard hat, kupo? Only 500 munny."

"Hayner, I think those freaky animals are talking to us."

"Confounded Nobody!"

"This ain't what I signed up for, y'know!"

"STOP!"

All voices ceased. It had been Yen Sid that halted the commotion, but another voice had ringed out alongside his, the voice of a young girl. It was all too familiar. Mickey was almost afraid of getting his hopes up. "…Kairi…?" The girl stepped forward. "Your Majesty." She bowed her head in respect before assuming the role of a diplomat. "Now, I understand that some people in this room have, er, come into conflict with one another, but that's all in the past now. There are more important things at stake." She paused and swallowed hard. "More important people."

The next heated hour was filled with explanations as for how Axel came to be there, the Riku Replica's dramatic transformation, and most importantly, the status of Sora. When the last topic was brought up, Donald and Goofy immediately broke down again. Kairi had tried to press on, only for her voice to break. After that, all she could do is shake her head. For a time, all that could be heard were their muffled sobs, drifting among the stagnant silence.

"I can make this right."

It was Namine who had stepped forward, looking more frail than ever and unable to meet anyone's gaze. Everyone focused their attention on her, even the Twilight Town kids who had only bits and pieces of the story to go on. "I brought this upon him, and I was thankfully able to patch his memories back together before things become irreparable, but not in time to save him from… From Marluxia."

The Lord of Oblivion.

He sat now on his grand throne, blissfully ignorant of the rogue team and surrounded by Dusks that twirled about him. In turn, each one cart wheeled to their master, flexing inward to whisper their reports in his waiting ears. The Lesser Nobodies under the command of Graceful Assassin had been hard at work, repairing Where Nothing Gathers and other locations damaged during the battle… Or just by Larxene in general. Their most important task, however, was one of utmost secrecy.

Marluxia's thoughts were interrupted by a Dusk's raspy tone.

"The armored militia awaits your command, my liege."

Armored militia? The Lesser Nobodies had an annoying tendency to apply euphemisms to subjects that had no need for them. Typically, they were simple enough to decode, but this one wasn't ringing a bell. He turned to a group of Dancers. "Go forth and retrieve Number XII, Number IX, and Aros.

Moments later, the three arrived upon the Altar of Naught, Larxene looking steely, Aros being blank as usual, and Demyx fidgeting and focusing his gaze on a water droplet he had twirling through his fingers. The Lord of Oblivion rose, in grandeur and elegance.

"Comrades," Marluxia began, and then paused, realizing that Xemnas had started with the same word during his own induction into the Organization. Marluxia continued anyway. "A Dusk has whispered of a certain 'armored militia' of which I am not familiar. Larxene, as you are my first lieutenant, I shall have you explain." The Nymph smiled slyly, as if she expected exactly such a request, and spouted off some smartly rehearsed lie about how the energy storm had spawned several hundred soldiers out of its depths of time and space to serve them and how she had of course been on her way to inform him when the Dancer had come to fetch her. After she had finished, the neophyte folded her hands together and challenged her superior with proud searching eyes, and Marluxia knew he could not dispute her, at least not at the state the party was in. Her time would come though.

But for now, he would play her game.

"Excellent."

He walked slowly, but deliberately back over to his throne. "However, even with our new… Precautions, this Castle is still unfit for my reign, especially now with Xemnas back onto the playing field." Marluxia placed his gloved hand on one side of the chair. "It was imprudent to allow his continued existence after Sora subdued him, a fault that I do not intend on repeating. He is no doubt reforming his armada. When their fleet is at full power, I expect an attack that will destroy us. Conversely, I ask you not fret for while you three were tracking energy storms, I had my time focused on a project that will rival Xemnas's beloved Dreadnought."

Marluxia slid his finger across the throne's backrest, causing it to dissolve before their eyes in a flurry of cherry blossoms that swirled around their summoner's booted feet. Dusks scattered as Memory's Skyscraper flashed in the distance. The winds picked up as dark vines began to intertwine the Graceful Assassin's legs, so much so that he had to shout over the whirlwind to be heard. "A new era begins tonight! No longer will we lie in wait for oblivion, as it will be ours to control! To conquer! Les Fleurs du mal! Behold the ultimate product of our toils: the Iron Lotus, the great Asphodelus!"

The winds centered on Marluxia and then corkscrewed above him, taking the vines and cherry blossoms in their wake. The air beyond them shimmered for a moment, as if the particles had all simultaneously recoiled in horror. Suddenly, they stopped, revealing an enormous flower-like battle airship that eclipsed the Kingdom Hearts moon behind it. Larxene cracked a self-righteous smirk as Marluxia's Spectre guardian appeared next to their new weapon.

Things were going much more smoothly than they had previously determined.

Marluxia was beside himself in cool triumph. He outstretched his arm, willing tendrils of thorny roots to spiral down from the center of the Asphodelus.

"Come." He beckoned, and willed his form into disintegration, becoming black sand that shot up into his warship.

The three others followed suit, chasing the trail of darkness up into the Iron Lotus.

Zexion surveyed the inside of Marluxia's observation globe, idly watching the rings circle around him. It was a chamber of Castle Oblivion not accessible by human means and couldn't be identified from outside the fortress's facade. "Well, it certainly has quite a bit more pomp than those basements, doesn't it?" Zexion turned to face his primary associate, Lexaeus, who, as is typical, stood stoically to the side. "My lord," His deep voice echoed about the cavity. Zexion interrupted whilst thumbing through his current lexicon. His voice was soft and distant. "There's no need for such formalities. You have proven your loyalty to me time and again. It would seem that you are to be the only steadfast in my… My existence." Life was the avoided word, for good reason. The faction leader released his hold on the Atlas of Omens which promptly floated away as if gravity had ceased to exist for it. The Cloaked Schemer had complete control here; it was perfect for his domain. He reached out and snatched the Book of Retribution out of the air as Lexaeus continued. "Even still, Zexion, Castle Oblivion is not suited for a full scale assault. Marluxia has surely refortified the World That Never Was, and the meddlesome DiZ always has a plot in motion. We must move swiftly if the Empire is to become the dominant power in this skirmish."

Zexion turned from the edge of platform, his mind whirring quickly at work. "I share your reservations, old friend; which is exactly why we renewed the Replica Project in the first place. I am of the belief Subject Zero is ready for the field. Go forth and bring him and Riku back here. I have an assignment for them both."

Zexion thrust out his arm made a strange motion, prompting the surface of the platform to ripple with a web of geometric shapes that pulsed out a dark gray and powerful indigo. Over all of it, burned a strange insignia, an emblem not unlike that of the original Organization before the Final Fracturing, only appearing as an inky black.

The Cloaked Schemer inhaled deeply, closing his eyes in thought. Lexaeus could not help but admire his cool calculation, his plans so ready for use. At last, Zexion opened his eyes again, pupils dilated and mouth curled into a scowl.

"In the meanwhile, you and I will investigate into Number 44's doings. I can smell something very dark afoot; something beyond my authority.

"No one is safe."

!_!

For a reference to the Empire's new emblem, AiSoulRebel of DeviantArt has graciously allowed me to use his redesigned Nobody symbol. You can view it by piecing together this URL (as fanfiction won't allow me to post links, grumble grumble) and pasting it in the address bar.

http: / / aisoulrebel .deviantart .com /gallery /# /d4a5kk2

Thanks for reading!