Chapter 1
Fourteenth the First.
Xionshi walked through the randomly changing 'halls' of this weird castle. Each room seemed completely different and sometimes impossible – there was an entire city in one room, once. That took a while to get out of, and the sheer idiocy of the event riled her. But now she came upon a large room, and she looked at the slip of paper in her hand. At least this 'Fluxtemaal' seemed intelligent enough, from this note. It said, simply, 'Xionshi, head to Castle Oblivion,' it gave easy directions from where she'd been, 'When there, after passing fifteen rooms, find the third door in the next room, and go in.'
And there she was, in a large room, the ceiling of which was lost in shadow. Somehow, the building that the door led into didn't seem to raise that high, yet that's how it was. A person with long, oddly crystal-like hair was sitting in a chair, and a woman was practicing with some form of sword a short distance away. There was a window, and the sight it showed was not the one outside the door. A curious incident, but this whole castle was one long such incident. The man started ranting about existence and time and some Organization XIII.
Xionshi remembered more instructions on the note, it said 'please listen, though I know I can drag on. I'll be giving you information on who you need to know from now on. Thanks for your understanding.' The note had prepared her, some, and Xionshi saw no reason to interrupt, choosing instead to let the man talk. She noticed he had crystals for pupils. First, the word 'heartless' jumped out at Xionshi. The way things were, everyone knew of them. This man commanded Heartless? Then he was pulling her back, and she slapped his hand away, even as he pointed out the door she'd walked in.
She hadn't noticed the window on the door before, but there it was, and behind it walked a woman, about averagely heighted, carrying some clay doll, with an oversized robe. Xionshi noted that all three of the people she saw in this castle wore the robes. Her hair was long, white, and pointy, somehow. How much hair gel did the woman have to use to get that effect? Fluxtemaal was talking, describing this woman, and Xionshi nodded. Lilxith, then. Xionshi thought she'd remember this woman. She seemed important, somehow.
Then, Fluxtemaal was across the room, unaware, seemingly, of his own position inside it, staring out the window, and still talking. How long could this man talk? And where did the sword that other woman was using come from? Noxah, Fluxtemaal said this one was. Shadows, and a Divine Spear. Xionshi couldn't help it, though. Who was that girl? "Fluxtemaal, who is that?" Xionshi was caught off guard to find the woman no longer practicing. She was sitting in a chair. Fluxtemaal wasted no time, responding in his narrative as though Xionshi hadn't spoken but still in response to her, somehow.
Who was this man? So, that was how she'd changed weapons. That was a… disturbing enemy, then. Xionshi didn't worry. Things would be as they would. Obsessed fools, the man said. That seemed to get him pretty well. Xionshi still wondered about his eyes, however. And what Fluxtemaal meant when he said that not having the ability to like people made Xisela an 'honest' Nobody. Before Xionshi could ask, though, he was seated again in a chair, and talking about himself.
In Xionshi's evaluation, he was something of a narcissist. Then he indicated the hallway outside the room. What hallway? It had been a street when Xionshi had walked in. This castle was nonsense. She followed Fluxtemaal outside the room. It was, indeed, a hallway. A man walked down the hall, not having noticed them; they'd entered the hall after he'd passed the room, and Fluxtemaal was using a hushed tone. That Negxer seemed like a weird sort. Maybe Xionshi could use him somehow. Her mind worked. She wondered, not for the first time, why Fluxtemaal had called her there.
Over a period of time, Fluxtemaal led her throughout this 'Castle Oblivion' and described for her all the people within, and the most interesting time was when he got tackled to floor, and the tackler had left shortly thereafter leaving his robe singed. At first, he hadn't noticed. When he did, it was as though it was unimportant. The smell of burnt cloth permeated the air, though, and Xionshi didn't enjoy that. Fluxtemaal seemed not to notice it. Perhaps such events were commonplace and you got used to it. Maybe. Who knows.
Then Fluxtemaal arrived outside his own room again. Xisela was not within, but he stood outside anyway. This time, the place outside the room was a marketplace, completely devoid of life. At that thought, as though he'd heard it, Fluxtemaal smiled, and launched into a disturbingly accurate description of Xionshi herself. Destiny's Crystalled Feather, indeed. He even guessed her use of life as a weapon. How could he do that? Then she flashed to one of the first things he'd said to her, 'My own place in the timeline is rather skewed to my own sight.'
It offered her an interesting avenue of thought. Xionshi abruptly found herself alone, as Fluxtemaal said something about not keeping Twilix waiting. She shrugged, and went into his room. This place, it seemed, never changed, no matter that whatever was outside seemed to change everytime she stood inside it. Fluxtemaal had said the place showed memories, and if Xionshi added a cluster of people to the marketplace, perhaps it could be any one of many marketplaces she'd been too in the past.
She was, Fluxtemaal had said, a 'secret weapon.' Did that mean even Xisela had been surprised to find her there? Something in Xionshi made her doubt it. She shrugged, and moved on. There was some disturbing looking apparatus in that room, with crystals all over the place, and though it didn't unnerve Xionshi, she figured it wouldn't be taken well by Fluxtemaal to find her invading his room. If this wasn't just his study. It was as Xionshi was closing the door, and finding herself in a hallway – different than the last one, and one she remembered – that Xisela appeared in her vision.
A blank stare was affixed to the girl's face. No weapon was in sight, but Xionshi knew she could make one at a moment's notice. Fluxtemaal had said so, and he didn't seem the type to lie. Xisela said, "So, you're a Nobody." That had been news to Xionshi, but it made sense. She felt empty in some way, and she supposed all Nobodys would. After all, they had no 'heart' as they said. Xionshi nodded. "Flux knew." So it seemed Nobodys can't tell if another of their kind is one by sight. Xionshi nodded. Time dragged on. Blank face met blank face. Finally, Xisela said, "Bye."
Xionshi decided maybe the two of them could get along. In the next room, she found a coliseum, and three things made up of black masses, each with a weird symbol across their chest, one carrying a sword, another a spear, and the last one an axe. Heartless. Xisela stood before them, and the four launched into combat, the Heartless quickly being consumed in the calm whirlwind that was Xisela's use of a halberd. More formed up, using various weapons, and it occurred to Xionshi that maybe these were the heartless Xisela commanded.
Xionshi found herself with nothing to do, so she watched as Xisela called forth heartless after heartless, using weapon after weapon, and proving her efficiency with each. There were even a few that she'd used that Xionshi had never seen or thought could be used before. As each Heartless died, a heart floated up from the vanishing corpse. Soon, it became another Heartless. Xionshi figured that she'd check out why that happened. Probably had something to do with that keyblader that Fluxtemaal had mentioned.
Within an hour, the man had returned. "She's really quite something, ain't she, Xionshi?" He carried with him a robe. "These are a slightly different model than the ones the Organization will or had used. They are the ALoP XIII uniform. From now until you no longer exist, you will wear these, and never again wear other clothing." As if the man just assumed she'd join his club or something. But he was smiling. There was another door, somehow, behind him. "Come, come, we must introduce you. They're all waiting." This would be a waste of time, and Xionshi knew it.
"No. You said we go on missions, right? So, what's my first mission? You seem to know so much about everyone, why don't you just tell them everything about me?" Fluxtemaal just laughed. It was as if he was saying 'Just what I thought.' At the very least, he found something highly entertaining. She pulled her Sakabato and moved to smash the unbladed side into his chest, but a sword parried the blow, and suddenly Xionshi found herself being flung backwards. Xisela was upon her, and it was all Xionshi could do to prevent the girl's weapon from disarming her.
It wasn't long, though, a mere two seconds, before both of their weapons stopped, a crystal-encased feather blocking both of their weapons. "Yes, yes, it would be a waste, wouldn't it. Xionshi, for today, attempt to leave Castle Oblivion. You want a mission, that's it." Then Fluxtemaal and Xisela were talking, and walking off, back to where Fluxtemaal's room was. Xionshi caught something about a crystal dummy, but it was in Fluxtemaal's voice, so it probably wasn't something Xisela called him. Xionshi got walking. Fluxtemaal had said to try to leave the castle.
With the rest of the mysteries of this castle, she couldn't be sure it wasn't magically blocked or guarded by some impossibly powerful Heartless. It took her a long time – she still couldn't make sense of the differing size of the castle's rooms. She figured out, after a while, that if you remembered a smaller area, it would probably be the place you walked into. Not always, however, and that annoyed Xionshi. She thought that if you made a place and gave it rules you should make those rules uniform.
Either way, she stood at the main floor, now, and this one room seemed never to change. In fact, it seemed to have many multiples at the staircases. It was how, Xionshi supposed, one would know if they were on the right track getting to a location. Xionshi opened the door to outside… rather, she tried to. It didn't budge. Suddenly, footsteps behind her. "See, that door opens only at a certain Nobody's say-so, or from outside. There are ways around that, though. Since the Nobody to control Castle Oblivion does not yet or no longer does exist, we of the ALoP XIII have our own ways of bypassing the door."
By way of example, Fluxtemaal formed a crystal into his hand, flung it at the door, where it melted beneath it into the small crack and the door slowly opened, revealing the crystal to have pushed it open. Xionshi snapped out, "So you made me come down here for this? To waste my time going through this castle again?" Yet halfway through her second sentence, Fluxtemaal was shaking his head, and he already had a response ready. He walked over and held the door open before speaking it, however.
"No, Xionshi. I sent you here because I don't want you known by the other ALoP XIII who didn't see you. Numbers XII, VIII, VII, VI, II, and I. Just in case-" she cut him off with a glare, "Alright, well, first, your mission is to find your Heartless. All of us stronger Nobodys have lesser Heartless beneath us; you saw Xisela's." Xionshi supposed it made sense. "Also, know that the walls of Castle Oblivion are never closed to you." And the moment she was out, the door shut behind her. That man could infuriate her.