A/N: Okay, this is longer than last chapter, I promise. :D What is to become of poor Reixka and Stefa? Let's find out.
Disclaimer-I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own a Kairi figure from Kingdom Hearts i, so I... er... win...? I also don't own Aladdin, but I do own a certain someone in that section.
A week had passed since Reixka's special dream where she 'met' Stefa, and she had already decided to except that it really had been nothing more than a dream. Contrary to her somebody's belief, no one in Organization XIII mentioned anything about holding her down and extracting a heart. Still, none of this explained why she could feel a thud in her chest sometimes and why she felt strongly about things other times; it just felt creepy.
Reixka had slowly adjusted to Larxene's presence, and, seeing as how there were no other females in the Organization, she found herself talking to the blonde quite a bit. She was surprised to learn that Larxene was intelligent and cunning and would often find her curled up with a book in the library of the castle. In the beginning, Larxene had been annoyed when Rei disturbed her, but she slowly adjusted. One odd day, she had a very curious conversation with the Nymph.
"'Morning," greeted Larxene from her spot at the kitchen table as Reixka entered the room as she sipped at whatever was in her mug. Reixka inclined her head in greeting, for she still was not quite awake. After she poured herself a cup of tea, the hot liquid did wonder for her throat, allowing her to speak. "What are you doing up so early?" She set the mug onto the table, and Reixka took in its appearance; it was a baby blue color with a single lightning bolt.
Reixka mumbled, "I couldn't sleep; I'm tired of these weird dreams." Since the two of them had first begun to bond, she had described the strange dreams to Larxene.
After a half a second, Larxene said, "It might be about time that you hear this from someone." She rolled her eyes, "For whatever reason, no one else, not even the Superior, wants you to know."
This caught Reixka's interest. "What are you talking about?"
"Your Somebody was a special Somebody; oh, yes," she added in a way that made Reixka assume Larxene and Stefa had met. "When she lost her heart, it didn't go to another Heartless and she didn't even become a Heartless. Instead, her heart went to you."
"Really?" She asked, incredulous as she remembered the dream with Stefa. "You're not lying?"
Larxene shook her head, smiling. "Why would I do a thing like that?" Nobodies couldn't feel emotions, but they could pretend like they did. They could laugh and they could smile, but it was always without feel; for most of them, at least.
"Hey, Larxene," a voice called from the doorway of the kitchen as a male with silver and black entered the room and took the seat across from the woman in question. He looked very... harassed.
"What's your problem?" asked Larxene, quirking an eyebrow before she took another sip from her mug.
"Let's switch friends. I'll take Reixka for a while and you can keep Marluxia and Demyx forever." A giggle escaped Reixka's mouth and the corners of Larxene's mouth turned upward in a small smile.
Larxene, rolling her eyes, scooted her chair backwards as she stood. "What are they doing this time?"
"They're fighting over something or another upstairs," he paused, the corner of his mouth turning up a little, "but I do seem to recall them heading into your room and going through your dresser..."
"What?" Her calm composure completely shattered. "Those little...!" Fuming and muttering under her breath, the Savage Nymph summoned a portal and disappeared through it.
Reixka let out a low whistle. "Those two are gonna get their asses kicked."
At her words, Zexion quirked an eyebrow, the smile on his face becoming more prominent, "Whatever gave you the idea that I was telling the truth? Although it might help that I opened her drawers and made a little bit of a mess out of her room," he added in afterthought. Reixka burst into laughter and even Zexion chuckled a little.
XxxxxX
Sora, Roxas, Riku, Kairi, and Naminé decided that the previous day in the Radiant Garden was their last. After a quick goodbye to everyone there, they beamed up to the Gummi Ship and set off for a new world. "Obviously, we're not going to get any leads there, and at least we're a little bit stronger by now," stated Kairi from where she was hanging over the back of Sora's chair as he steered.
Without looking away from the purple meteors he was blasting out of their path, he asked, "So where are we heading to now?"
"Agrabah," came Sora's simple reply; Roxas look bewildered.
"Why Agrabah?" Naminé inquired, also a little bit confused.
"Paine said that most of the worlds have been invaded by Nobodies, and seeing as how we have to wait for the Organization to come to us..." Sora trailed off expectantly.
No one got the chance to argue because, in the contemplating ten minutes that followed, they had landed in Agrabah. "It'll be nice to see how everyone is after two years," decided Kairi, smiling. Hopefully, their visit would be significantly more pleasant than last time.
To save time, Sora beamed them down right before the castle gates, causing the two guards to jump, "You punks again." The one on the left grunted; it was amazing how the guards hadn't seemed to age in the two years since they had last visited.
"Are we actually allowed in this time?" snorted Naminé, uncharacteristically, under her breath.
"Yes, you are, actually." The guard on the right said, stepping to the side; his fellow mimicked his actions.
Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "Uh... thanks." Sora entered the castle first, closely followed by Kairi. Then, Roxas with Naminé holding onto his hand, and Riku entered last. They were immediately greeted by the large tiger, Rajah, who purred in acknowledgment and rubbed his head against Kairi's legs. Giggling, she bent over somewhat to stroke his head.
"I thought I heard someone come in," remarked the voice of a male as he entered through one of the palace's various doors. Perched on his shoulder was a small monkey, who was chattering excitedly.
Sora grinned. "Aladdin." The man chuckled and strode forward to shake hands with the Keyblade Master. "It's nice to see you again."
"You, too, Sora, Kairi, Naminé, Riku," he paused as his eyes fell upon Roxas. "And who is this?"
"I'm Roxas." He held out his hand, which Al gladly shook.
"I've heard about you. Sora's Nobody, right?"
"Where's Jasmine?" asked Kairi, eager to see her fellow princess again.
Aladdin scratched the back of his head. "Uh, upstairs, and I should probably tell you guys something... You see, Jasmine and I... We kind of..." The door that Aladdin had come through creaked open as said princess joined them, holding a bundle in her arms.
"I can't believe it," she said with true belief. Her appearance did not really seem to have changed much; she still wore the same turquoise outfit. "You're all back? We were thinking that you never would return!" For a minute, it looked like she wanted to run forward, but, instead, walked the distance and stopped beside her husband.
Naminé smiled. "Jasmine, we were just talking about you." Jasmine shot a question glance at the boy whose hand she was holding.
"Roxas," he introduced himself with a small bow.
"Don't bow." Jasmine said with a smile, "It's nice to meet you, Roxas."
Suddenly, Kairi's eyes widened in realization. "Jasmine, is that your baby?" She whispered incredulously. Sure enough, the bundle within the blankets had begun to stir.
Jasmine turned to face her husband with an angry expression. "You didn't tell them about the baby?" She asked, staring at him like he had no sense at all.
"What's his name? How old?" Kairi and Naminé cooed as they walked over to her. Jasmine turned back toward them, holding the baby out to Kairi.
Jasmine replied, "Hashim is his name; he's a couple of months old."
Kairi gingerly took the infant into her arms as she and her other cooed. "Ooh, he's so cute."
XxxxxX
Larxene had beaten up Marluxia, Demyx, and Zexion after finding out what had happened. No one escapes the wrath of a woman or, at least, that's what Xigbar had told her. Reixka had been standing by as Saïx begun to tell Larxene that if she insisted on beating up all of the members, she would have to... Actually, he couldn't figure out what she would have to do, so he left behind a very smug Larxene. As the minutes passed, Reixka couldn't help but feel very anxious, and she bet it had to do with the heart inside of her.
'I bet you're so very happy lapping it up inside of there, but at least I get to do things,' she thought darkly. Lately, she had been thinking dark thoughts and remarks toward her Somebody. It was odd, Reixka was also feeling some unexplained malice toward Quince and the silver-haired boy. Nothing was making sense anymore.
She slowly dragged her feet down one of the many long white hallways. At the end of this particular one was their meeting room. She usually hated meetings, but, today, she was sort of excited. Today, everyone would be assigned worlds. When she stopped at the door, she laughed, remembering that she could use portals. 'Whoops.' When she pushed the door open, she found mostly everyone there, with the exception of Demyx; go figure. Reixka walked down the row of chairs and found her own; it was right beside Larxene.
Larxene still appeared a little miffed, but seemed to have calmed down greatly. As soon as Reixka took her seat, Demyx appeared in a portal behind his own and quietly sat, scratches covering his face. "Now that we're all finally here," began Xemnas in a booming voice from where he stood at the head of the table; his gaze fell upon the Nymph and Reixka, and both averted their eyes. He surveyed the rest of his group. "I'll assign everyone to the world they are going to be stationed at."
' 'Stationed,' ' Reixka thought as she stared down at the marble table. 'It sounds like we're at war.' She was torn from her thought when Larxene elbowed her in the gut. "Ouch!" She hissed, rubbing her stomach.
"Number Fourteen, you'll be going to Halloween Town. Set off immediately," he ordered, and she immediately stood and, with a nod at Larxene, disappeared into her portal.
XxxxxX
Once Naminé and Kairi stopped their fussing over the baby, Jasmine took him upstairs for a nap. Meanwhile, everyone else made their way into the courtyard to talk. "There's absolutely no trouble here?" Roxas asked for what had to be the fifteenth time.
Aladdin chuckled. "I haven't seen anything aside from the neighborhood Heartless, and that isn't preventable since there is darkness in everyone's heart."
"Especially the merchants here," stated Sora with a grin; Kairi elbowed him in the shoulder.
"So, you're searching for the other princess again?" inquired Aladdin. The last time they had visited, he remembered, it had been to make sure Jasmine was safe as well as to find out Stefa's whereabouts. At least Jasmine was safe this time around.
Kairi shook her head, "Not exactly. She already lost her heart to a Heartless, so it's too late for that. We're looking for her Nobody now." Biting her lip, she explained, "Stefa didn't leave a Heartless, so it might be even more difficult to save her heart."
Naminé nodded her agreement as she pressed her hands together. "It's our best bet."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Aladdin, frowning. "Is there any way that I can help?"
Riku shook his head as he stared up at the bright sky. "We'll bring her back somehow. So many incredible things have happened since our first adventure, and I've finally learned that light shines anywhere, if you know where to look." The Prince couldn't help but smile. Last time that he had spoken with Sora, the boy had informed him that Riku was very pessimistic ever since escaping the darkness. Apparently, Riku had gone through a big change.
Rajah was at Jasmine's heels when she entered the courtyard. "He's sound asleep," she reported with a dazzling smile. Aladdin sighed in relief; it had been so long since they got any time for peace and quiet.
"Where's Genie hiding at these days?" Sora asked, expecting the genie was somewhere in Agrabah.
"He's traveling other worlds now." Aladdin reported, shaking his head, "First Iago and now Genie. I wonder if Abu and Carpet will be leaving me anytime soon." Abu chattered angrily and pulled on his friend's ear, causing the others to laugh.
"I overheard you," Jasmine said to the group while she stroked Rajah's head, "Will you be leaving soon?" The others exchanged looks before shaking their heads.
"We've got time to spare," assured Roxas.
XxxxxX
Reixka stepped out of the portal and glanced around at the odd world she had stepped in. A full moon was shining quite brightly in the sky and, looming just before her, was a curly hill. "Curious." She noted as she walked in the opposition direction, toward the town. "'Release Nobodies and Heartless when you arrive; each and every one shall obey you.'" She repeated the Superior's words before snapping, summoning a handful of Dusks and Heartless. The Heartless stared around for a minute while the Nobodies, who knew what to do right away, crawled toward the town.
"Attack the town and anyone you see fit unless it is one of our own. Some of you have been here before, I'm sure. Now, go," she ordered in a cold voice that was as familiar to her as air. Wight Knights, Shadows, Gargoyles, Darkballs, and a few other types trooped toward the town after the Nobodies.