"All right, that's it. You really are Terra, aren't you?" Braig, or rather Xigbar, accused loudly as he entered the library of the mansion where Terra, renamed Traxer, now stood as he sorted through its texts and tomes on Vexen's orders. Traxer sighed heavily and looked at the arrowgunman out of the corner of his eye. "Aren't you?!" Xigbar repeated.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were angry," Traxer replied with a chilled tone. "But you can't be. That'd require emotion, which in turn requires a heart."
"You can't fool me, Terra-"
"Traxer," the silver-haired young man corrected.
"Fine, whatever. Traxer. But you're originally Terra! You've been lying this entire time, haven't you?"
Previously, when the apprentices had been gathered outside the mansion and Vexen had continued assigning names to his comrades- Dilan was now Xaldin, Aeleus had become Lexaeus, and Ienzo became Zexion- the green-eyed Nobody who had taken on the role of leadership on his own accord beckoned to Terra.
"So, Xehanort, let's see how this goes. Will it simply be an anagram of your name, or will another 'X' find its way in there somewhere?" Vexen had wondered. Terra had unwillingly approached him and Vexen began the little naming ritual. What had surprised them all, however, was that the name "Xehanort" had failed to appear. Terra's real name came forth, causing something of an uproar among the Nobodies. When questions and accusations had come up, he'd used the excuse that he had lost his memory and didn't remember if "Terra" really was his name. Vexen, Zexion, Xaldin, and Lexaeus had seemed to accept this, and Xigbar was forced to hold his tongue for the time in the interest of not raising suspicion. Vexen had gone ahead with the renaming, dubbing Terra as Traxer.
"This is Terra's body, and his heart was still a part of it when the Heartless attacked," Traxer replied as Xigbar scowled at him.
"You're not fooling me anymore," Xigbar shot back. "You're not Xehanort. He failed." Traxer blinked and fell silent for a moment.
"No, he was there," he finally answered. "For a short time, he managed to take control of my body. But, he didn't count on Vanitas betraying him- I'm really not sure how he didn't see it coming. Vanitas is selfish and only cares about himself. Regardless, that led to his will weakening and I took back control." He paused. "But… he did manage to gain back control as the Heartless were attacking. Since I woke up here, I haven't been able to sense him." He turned fully to Xigbar and smirked. "So, he's probably out there somewhere as a Heartless. So, go find him." Xigbar stared at him.
"Fine. Explain this, then. Shouldn't it still be his will in control of you, then? When the Heartless decided to snack on you, two hearts got released- I'd assume his and yours. So, if your heart isn't there anymore, then shouldn't the last person who was in control be the Nobody?" Traxer blinked again.
"My guess is that Xehanort's soul wasn't there, but mine is. He lost his only foothold while I still had something there."
"Hmph."
"So, Xigbar, you probably hate me. I see you've got quite the look to remember me by," Traxer went on. "Why don't you just get your revenge now?"
"Good question," Xigbar growled. "You don't have your Keyblade."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"Because you would have used it to defend yourself against the Heartless," he replied. "Especially you! You wouldn't have chosen hiding your Keyblade over losing yourself to darkness. Not after everything you've gone through."
"Fair enough," Traxer nodded. "You're smarter than you look."
"I really should wipe that smile off your face," Xigbar threatened. "But I'm not going to. The rest of this little pack of Nobodies are perceptive and on high alert. If I suddenly went after you, they'd want to know why. Same for you against me."
"True," Traxer nodded. Almost as if summoned, Vexen entered the library a heartbeat later.
"Have you found anything, Traxer?" he inquired, and Traxer shook his head.
"Just dust. Oh, wait. I did find out that this world is apparently called 'Twilight Town.' According to some story, legend, rumor, whatever, it's a world situated between the realms of light and darkness."
"Hm… " Vexen nodded. "Radiant Garden is like a stronghold in the realm of light. So, why did we end up here?" He paused, thinking. "Perhaps, because we lack both light and darkness due to our losing our hearts, neither realm would accept us."
"That could be," Traxer agreed.
"We need a place to set up research," Vexen continued. "A base, even. Somewhere we could continue forward without worrying about interference. The home territory, if you will."
"Why not this place?" Xigbar pointed out. "Seems like it's been abandoned for years."
"That may be so, but I sent Zexion and Xaldin out beyond the woods, and they reported that, as Traxer alluded to in the name, there is a populated town nearby. Something tells me this place will see many curious visitors, and they may get suspicious if they see activity here."
"So, now what?" Traxer wondered. Vexen turned to him.
"We need a way to travel," he answered. "To traverse the boundaries between the worlds to find a place we can do as we wish."
"Why not just go back to Radiant Garden?" Xigbar inquired.
"That may be our best bet," Vexen agreed. "But we still need a way to get there."
"Corridors of Darkness," Xigbar suddenly blurted, and Traxer stared at him.
"What do you mean? Explain, Xigbar," Vexen's voice was reserved, though not quite carrying an order.
"Let's say I saw someone, definitely not from Radiant Garden, that came and left via this portal-like thing. When I asked him about it, he said it was a Corridor of Darkness that could go to any world. If we could figure out how to use them…"
"I've heard about them," Traxer interrupted. "But the darkness is more prominent there. Even if we don't have hearts, I'm sure it could find some other way to corrupt us. If we did use the Corridors as a means of travel, we'd need some sort of protection against it." Like Keyblade Armor, he added silently.
"Very well," Vexen nodded again. "Then Traxer, I'm putting you in charge of finding some sort of protection against the darkness. And Xigbar, make yourself useful and search the mansion like I told you to." Xigbar glared at him before exiting the library, mumbling. Vexen turned back to Traxer. "And good luck."
"Thanks," Traxer replied, and Vexen followed Xigbar out. Traxer sighed heavily and replaced the book in his hands on the shelf, scanning over the rest of the collection aimlessly. What could possibly tell him about protection against the Darkness? Most of the general populace of the worlds didn't know about other worlds in the sky, the Lanes Between, or any other way to travel. Only Keyblade wielders and other prominent people could even guess about it.
"Xehanort used the Dark Corridors," he mumbled to himself. "Even he would have needed some sort of protection against it. There had to have been something other than Keyblade Armor that he used. "And there's only one place that could remotely lead me to answers…" With that thought, and a sense of guilt in his mind, he dug around the ability he knew he possessed but had locked away out of fear and belief that it would have corrupted him. "But, I'm kind of beyond that now," he sighed and held out his hand, channeling the darkness within him that Xehanort had awakened, and summoned a Dark Corridor. "Just until I can find that protection," he told himself. "Just this once." After a moment's hesitation, he ran into the Corridor and it closed behind him.
A moment later, after passing through the darkness, he emerged somewhere among the canyon rock formations of the Keyblade Graveyard. He took a deep breath and glanced around, then hurried in the direction of the clearing that had served as the battleground between him, Ventus, and Aqua against Xehanort and Vanitas. He climbed up a Cliffside and came to a flat surface overlooking the craters left by the Keyblade War, and soon recognized it as the place where he'd met Xehanort and learned about Vanitas.
Now, there was nothing there save a small shelter tucked away between the chasms and cliffs of the area, and he immediately went over to inspect it. There was little there other than a small collection of various things Traxer didn't recognize. Upon further exploration, however, he found a long black coat folded away in the corner of the shelter and picked it up. Something about it, the fact that Xehanort had taken such care to keep it hidden and in good shape, told him that this was what he was looking for. He pulled it on over his researcher's uniform and zipped it up to his collarbone and down to just above his knees.
"Might as well take a look around while I'm here," he thought aloud. "It's not like Vexen and the rest of them will miss me much." He made his way down the cliff side and toward the legions of wielder-less Keyblades. Before he got there, however, several Unversed, a small group of Floods, popped up and surrounded him.
"Where did you come from?!" he demanded, taking up a defensive stance.
"Haven't you learned ANYthing?" a dark, mocking voice that Traxer recognized all too well replied, and he looked up to find Vanitas sitting on one of the cliffs. The spiky-black-haired boy jumped down and smirked at him, his yellow eyes venomous. "Let me guess… well, you wouldn't have been asking that if you were Xehanort. So, you must be Terra. You got control back, huh?" He shrugged. "Not that I ever thought you couldn't. He's a weak fool behind that façade of darkness and deceit."
"What do you want?" Traxer growled, and Vanitas stared at him.
"Good question," he mocked. "Do I want to kill you myself or just let the Unversed toy with you? Or, I could do both. I bet that'd be fun." He paused. "Or, should I just let you go so I'd have the thrill of the hunt? You're useless to me now. No Keyblade, no allies… you're all on your own. What threat could you pose to me?"
"Why would the Unversed follow your orders?" Traxer demanded as the Floods drew closer to him.
"I suppose you could say my emotions are a bit unstable," Vanitas replied. "Or rather were. Since Aqua's light completed my heart, I haven't been able to summon them. These are just leftovers. But they were a horde of fledgling emotions under my control. I released them out and about to the worlds to test you three. But when you destroyed them, they simply returned to me. Up until I obtained a completed heart, they were endless." He summoned the Void Gear and pointed it at Traxer. "Of course, I don't need them now, nor do I need the χ-Blade. I can destroy you myself, and I'll find another way to Kingdom Hearts." His smirk grew into a dangerous smile. "And I can guarantee you that it won't be long before the path to it opens." He lowered his Keyblade, though kept it in his hand.
"Aqua and Ven are out there somewhere," Traxer pointed out. "They'll stop you!" Vanitas merely clucked his tongue and shook his head.
"First point, yes. They are, and I know where." Traxer's interest zeroed in at this bit of information, but Vanitas merely grinned maniacally at him. "Oh, you don't know? Want me to tell you? Ha!" He started laughing, to Traxer's annoyance. "Exactly how could disclosing that information to you benefit me?" For that, Traxer had no answer. Vanitas thumped his palm against his chest for a moment. "Trust me- there isn't a moment that goes by when I don't know where they are, that I can't find either of them. Yet another bonus to having Ventus's darkness and Aqua's light." He laughed again. "Oh, yes. It's only a matter of time."
"Time for what?" Traxer inquired.
"Aqua's heart is made only of darkness," Vanitas reminded him sourly. "No light. She's bound to succumb to that fact sooner or later." He smirked. "Maybe I should give her a little push in the right direction." With that, Traxer started sprinting toward him, but the Unversed blocked his path. "Well, if it upsets you that much, then I suppose I shouldn't waste any time!" A Dark Corridor opened up behind him and he stepped into it, and it closed just after. The Unversed dispersed and disappeared, leaving Traxer alone and reeling.
"Aqua would never succumb to the darkness," he told himself. "Ven will look out for her." But, contrary to his words, Vanitas's words played with his head and planted doubt somewhere in his mind. He shook it off and opened a Dark Corridor of his own, bound for Twilight Town.