Roxas drew his Keyblade from the darkness and glared hatefully at the Heartless attacking his friends. He made a move to go forward but a heavy hand descended upon his shoulder and forced him back.
Confused, the Key looked up into the bright yellow eyes of Saix, who shook his head.
"Leave them to it, number XIII." he said dryly, "They have things well under control."
"But Saix, they're—"
"Saix is right, Roxas." Xaldin said, piercing the boy with his glowing violet gaze, "The neophytes seem perfectly capable of fighting off the Heartless without us getting in the way."
"But—" Roxas drifted off, turning to watch the younger members fight.
Demyx pushed through the group of Nobodies and stood at Roxas' shoulder. From the look on his face, he was just as concerned as the Key was.
"Wonder what they're up to..." Larxene murmured.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"What?" Saix asked sharply.
"I said: I wonder what they're up to." Larxene repeated, a bit louder this time.
"They're fighting. That's what they're up to." Xigbar responded cheekily.
Larxene sent him a glare and looked like she would snap but Saix cut between them. His attention was still trained on the Nymph as he spoke again, "What are you talking about?"
"It's just...weird, isn't it? Before they started fighting, they were deep in conversation about something." Larxene sent a meaningful glance around the group before continuing, "Then the Heartless showed up. Kind of...weird timing, don't you think?"
"But the Heartless are fighting them, not us." Roxas told her.
"I can see that, but how do we know it's not just a front?" Larxene asked him, sly poison dripping from her words, "How do we know that while we're watching them fight, they're not planning on sending an ambush at us?"
"They do not know how to create Heartless yet, Larxene." Luxord informed her.
"But how do we know they aren't in league with the person who started everything in the first place?" Larxene purred, "For all their brave words and fighting, it could very well have been a clever lie to lull us into a false sense of security."
"I dunno. It seems sort of sketchy to me." Demyx said, scratching his head.
Larxene shrugged.
"All I'm saying is that we ought to be careful and both our backs and the newbies. At this point, we can't afford to trust...outsiders. At this point, who can we trust...but ourselves?"
Everyone fell silent and returned their attention to the neophytes' fight, but Larxene noticed they were tenser than before, and some of them were drawing their weapons in secrecy.
Behind the group, Larxene did likewise; her knives appeared in her hands and she stiffened her posture, ready to spring should they be ambushed.
But—and she thanked Kingdom Hearts no one saw this—she couldn't help the tiniest smirk crossing her face as she stood at the back of her fellow Nobodies.
Darxet looked over at the other Nobodies at the back of the room, curious. They had been talking quietly for a while, and now they had their weapons drawn and were glaring at...them?
He stepped back from the fighting and wove through the ranks of the neophytes, seeking out Axbrem.
"Axbrem? Ax—oh, hey Xiyak." Darxet said as he was cut off by number XXIII. Something crossed over Darxet's light brown eyes. He grabbed Xiyak's arm and tore her away from the fighting, pulling over to a sheltered part of the room.
"Gah—Darxet, what do you want?" the Crusader snapped.
"That stuff you were saying earlier, about the Organization planning to betray us?" he asked her.
Immediately, Xiyak froze and looked at him, her curiosity peaked.
"Yes...?"
"Well...I didn't want to believe it, but I can't help thinking you might be right." he said uncomfortably, I just saw them talking to each other, and now they've got their weapons drawn and pointed at us."
He nodded towards where the other, older Nobodies were standing and as Xiyak turned to look, she did notice how fierce they seemed.
"I told you so." she said, "Quick, let's get everyone together and beat the last of the Heartless back. If we're going down tonight, they're coming with us."
Darxet nodded and slipped away to the other side of the room, while Xiyak went in the opposite direction. Many whispered words and head-nods were exchanged between neophyte and neophyte, with a few heated protests thrown in, but soon it seemed everyone was in agreement.
They increased their fighting until they were chased away the last Shadow and an uneasy silence settled over the room.
Tempers flared as the neophytes and the Nobodies turned to face each other. Everyone had their weapons out now, and in some cases, their elements dancing around them.
How far away the Halloween party seemed now.
"Quick, this way!" Axel hissed as he led Xion and Xylle through progressively narrower passages and hallways. Xion had long since lost sense of direction, and so just clung to Axel's cloak and followed him through the dark Wing. Xylle kept a good pace behind them, keeping her eyes fixed on the small ball of fire Axel was using as a torch.
"Axel, where are we?" Xion murmured as he stopped for the tenth time and inspected the wall.
"I think this was the dungeon. Yeah...it used to be like a real medieval castle before the changes. Like something you'd read in a fairy tale or something." Axel said as he reached out his free hand and pushed on a tile in the wall. It had been protruding somewhat and when he pressed on it, it receded back into the wall.
Like a scene from an old adventure movie, the three stepped back as the wall turned on itself and opened a passageway into the next room. Xion thought it was very exciting, but Xylle and Axel only wanted to make it out of this alien territory alive.
"Through here, is called the Heart's Containment. It's the first level of the dungeon here; five levels down and we'll be at the place where Axille should be." Axel informed them.
"Okay. Let's hurry." Xylle nodded.
The three "adventurers" stepped into the menacing darkness that yawned from the hidden corridor, onward to rescue their missing maiden.
Zexion jabbed impatiently at the keys of his computer, seething. With all of the programs it had opened up, the computer was running unbelievably slowly and they were missing out on possibly valuable data!
"Anything yet?" Vexen snapped as he returned from his watch. The three had agreed that, while the Creator was to be left alone, Vexen and Lexaeus would take turns monitoring the creature while Zexion tried to compute a way around it.
"Not yet." Zexion muttered, "Not much anyways, with that great blob interfering with the computer's connection to the Castle's main computer. If you would only let me close—"
"No!" Vexen exclaimed, horrified, "If you close anything, we might lose even more data than we already are! Just find a way to fix that thing and get on with it. Or, if you don't feel you can, I'll take over. I have the experience of years and years of hard work and dedication behind me, boy, while you only have a few at most."
That was it.
Zexion snapped the laptop closed and stood up, glaring furiously up at Vexen as he snarled out a reply.
"Look here, Number IV." he hissed, accenting Vexen's rank and number, "In this scientific madhouse you call a laboratory, you are the traditional brains, and I am the technological brains. You stick to stirring your concoctions and cold medicines, and let me deal with the engineering. That is how things have been running for years, and that is how it will stay."
Vexen let out a noise somewhere between a scream and a growl and lunged for the boy, drawing his Shield as he did. Zexion's eyes blazed as he readied his laptop and aimed, preparing to strike.
Clang!
Steel met steel as Vexen's shield and Zexion's laptop both collided with a very big, very heavy, very metal weapon. They broke away and looked up to see Lexaeus looming over the both of them, not lifting his sword.
"Number V, move your weapon aside. I must teach this little boy over here a lesson in respect." Vexen snapped. Lexaeus shook his head and disarmed Vexen with a simple, nonchalant flick of his axe sword, sending Frozen Pride spinning away from him. The blue instrument hit the wall and disappeared with hardly a clatter.
Vexen and Zexion stepped away from each other; neither wanted to antagonize the Silent Hero while he was in a foul mood. Lexaeus noticed that Zexion seemed a bit awkward in his walk as he stalked away to the back of the room, but did not bring the matter to light.
"We do not need to fight amongst ourselves." Lexaeus growled, "We, along with the rest of the Organization, are in a big enough mess as it is, without us killing each other over the slightest disagreement."
Oh, if only he knew how ironic that statement actually was.
Knexedy stood back with a few other neophytes as they watched the two sides square off. Dismay clouded her eyes and she shook her head, begging for this to end, for something to magically happen so they wouldn't have to fight each other.
"This isn't right!" Leixym exclaimed, clutching Axbrem's sleeve. The Archer nodded and laid a hand on Knexedy's shoulder, showing they were with her. Xisel, Xavier, and Kyrox stood by, waiting.
No words were shared as Larxene and Saix launched towards the group first. Xiyak's "group," consisting of Amenxtthe, Anix, Syaxsal, Cavex, and Darxet, were the first to meet them.
Knexedy and her own little squadron didn't want to get involved, but they had no choice as Xaldin and Luxord dashed towards them.
Chaos reigned as mentor and apprentice fought blade-for-blade, element-for-element as the two sides went all out.
Xigbar and Darxet locked gazes as they prepared to take the first attacks on each other.
"And to think I actually helped you this morning!" Xigbar spat, "Traitor!"
"You're the traitor!" Darxet roared, hefting his hammer. His element, fear, was treacherously useless in this situation, but his hammer was still heavy.
Similar arguments were erupting all over the battlefield; Anix called Saix out for leaving him to the Avalanche on his first mission, and now for betraying him again.
"You hardly deserve any sympathy from me, number XXV." Saix growled, his voice dangerously calm.
Knexedy lifted her sword into the air and crashed it against the tile of the floor, sending an explosion rippling through the room as flames leaped up and went at the Nobodies. Axbrem crouched beside her, firing arrows not to injure, but to deflect and distract the older Organization. Leixym was doing similar with her own sword, sending waves of saltwater smashing into the Organization, forcing them back.
"Fight, you cowards!" Larxene crowed as she sent a knife, crackling with electricity, their way. Axbrem took aim and fired, meeting the knife halfway and effectively stopping its acceleration. Arrow and knife bounced harmlessly away from each other and landed on the floor, where they promptly disappeared and reappeared in their owner's hand and quiver.
"Coward yourself, Larxene!" Xavier shouted, twirling her staff like a baton, "Come here and fight me, mano y mano!"
Larxene obliged, hurling herself at the daring individual. Kyrox made a move to help her, but Axbrem pushed him back and said, "She doesn't need us."
Kyrox nodded and threw himself back into battle, but Axbrem, alone and not being targeted by anyone, melted into the background. She slipped along the fringes of the fight and soon found who she was looking for, sitting in the background, doing much of what her own fighting troupe had done; dodging, resisting, but not attacking.
"I need to talk to you." she said grimly.
Axel, Xion and Xylle in tow, shuffled down the corridor that led to the final basement of Heart's Containment. The corridor was pitch black and freezing, and the two girls had to huddle very close to Axel to keep the light on their faces and the warmth on their skin.
"Here, put your hoods up." Axel suggested, pulling his own up, "They'll keep you warm."
Xylle and Xion obliged, and stood back as Axel bent towards the lock. He gave it an experimental shove but pulled back, annoyed.
"No dice. Can you work some Keyblade magic on it and open the door?" he asked, turning around to Xion. She nodded tentatively and held out her hand, waiting for the Keyblade to come. In a flash of bright white light, it did, and the black-haired girl stood back. She held her arm up so the Keyblade tip was pointed at the lock and for a moment, nothing happened, and Axel thought he had brought them down here for nothing. But then, like a little candle slowly growing, light began to form at the tip of Xion's key. A beam of light blossomed from the key and went into the keyhole, where a few tumblers later, it opened.
The door swung open with surprising ease as the three headed through it. To help them see, Axel increased the glare on his fireball and looked around the room, straining for the darkness to become clear.
Weak coughing greeted his anxious ears and he stiffened, running towards it. Xylle and Xion ran after him, keeping their guiding light in sight.
As they ran, Xion became dimly aware of how far they seemed to be running. How big was this dungeon anyways? From the surprised hiss behind her, she could tell Xylle was thinking the same thing.
The coughing grew louder and louder, and soon numbers XIV and XXVI didn't need Axel to guide them; they could just follow the sounds of the coughing.
Axel's fire had stopped by now, and from the way it was moving, the girls thought he had found something. But as they got closer, they heard a high-pitched, desperate voice scream out into the darkness, "No! It's a trap!"
Right as they were warned, the room exploded into dazzling, blinding white light. Xylle and Xion were thrown backwards with the shock and they tumbled to the ground in a black mess, their cloaks entangling themselves up with each other. Their visions went hazy, blurred, and spotty as they recovered from almost being blinded and when their vision had cleared, they looked up into the faces of the puppetmasters of the show.
Xion gasped, and Xylle's eyes went wide.
"It was you all along?" they exclaimed.
The fighting in the Hall of Empty Melodies had taken a drastic turn for the worst. Now fighting back in desperation, the two sides split into three as Nobodies made their hasty decisions about where their loyalties lied and went to fight for them.
"Roxas, Demyx, I know you two don't like this fighting as much as I do." Axbrem said hastily to her two companions, "But please, please, you have to find a way to get them to stop! We're getting nowhere with just killing each other!"
Roxas nodded gravely, "No, we aren't. We'll try, Axbrem, but Demyx and I aren't the most...respected members here."
Demyx sighed sadly, "We'll try, but no promises."
Axbrem nodded, clasping their gloved hands briefly as she looked them in the eye.
"Thank you for trying." she said.
A second later, she was gone.
"C'mon Dem, we've got a battle to stop." Roxas said as he pulled his Keyblade out of the darkness and threw himself back into battle. Demyx took out his sitar and followed his younger friend, eager to end it.
Meanwhile, Axbrem had returned to her own group, who were now packed closely together, defending themselves from attack. She jumped into the center of them and everyone leaned in to hear what she had to say.
"Roxas and Demyx don't like this fight either; they're trying to put an end to it. What we need to do, is target the weakpoints of the fight and take them down." she said, "Knexedy and Kyrox, you go see if you can convince Darxet and Xiyak to call it off and surrender. Leixym, you're with me; we're going to try and disable their frontmen, Xaldin, Luxord, and Xigbar. Xavier and Xisel, aim for the back and try to separate Saix from Larxene. Good luck guys, be careful."
Nodding, her group pairs rushed off to do what they were assigned to do, leaving Leixym and Axbrem alone. The noise of battle was roaring in their ears as Axbrem drew an arrow and aimed at Xaldin's hands, and Leixym summoned her sword to shoot at Luxord.
"You hit 'em low, I'll hit 'em high!" Axbrem told her companion as she fired off the arrow.
Xaldin dropped his lances in shock and pain as a flaming arrow embedded itself in his sleeve. Ripping it out, he threw the projectile across the room and summoned his lances to him again, pointing their heads at Axbrem.
"You'll pay for that you insolent child!" he snarled, but before he could do anything, a small, feathered body barreled out of nowhere and smacked into his face. Small, sharp claws embedded themselves in his face and a tiny, pointed beak stabbed him mercilessly as fearless Belxeo attacked. Amenxtthe was on the scene in an instant and she called Belxeo back to her with a whistle. She held her staff ready as Xaldin wiped the blood off of his face and looked to see his neophyte glaring distastefully at him.
Their eyes locked for a moment and Xaldin pulled back, shaking his head.
"No, not worth it." he muttered, before turning around and disappearing into the fray. Amenxtthe watched him go with a pang of pseudo-sadness attacking her, but she pushed it away. Belxeo squawked defiantly as they ducked a blow from Saix's Claymore and they were thrown back into battle.
Xigbar disappeared from Darxet a moment before his apprentice's hammer could swipe and imbalance him. The Freeshooter appeared upside down on the ceiling, took aim, and fired a furious salvo of arrows at the teen on the floor below. Darxet held up one of the ends of his hammer to deflect them, but the protection was minimal; he was still cut badly from the attack.
Cavex appeared at his side and without a word, handed him a potion. Darxet stared at it for a moment before looking back up to thank the healer, but she was gone.
Shrugging, he uncorked the potion bottle and downed it, feeling his strength flooding back to him as he looked around and waited for Xigbar to reappear.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are." he called mockingly.
"I'm right behind you." a voice whispered into his ear.
He whirled around just in time to see Xigbar's eye glowing with the ferocity of a Behemoth before an arrowgun shot to the head knocked him out cold.
Xiyak saw Darxet fall and felt a cold rage rising within her. Releasing a scream of frustration, she jumped at Xigbar and managed to land a few hard blows with her steel knuckles before Xigbar could warp away.
She was about to lunge after the empty space before hands from behind dragged her back. She hit the floor and flailed, her knuckles reaching out to punch anyone who came near her until she saw it was Knexedy and Kyrox who had grabbed her.
"What the—what are you two doing?" she screamed.
"Xiyak, call it off!" Knexedy exclaimed, "Call off the fight! No one has to get hurt if you just surrender!"
"Coward!" Xiyak exclaimed, leaping to her feet, "Fight back! Why are you standing here, waiting for them to betray you? It's obvious that they will!"
"No, they won't." Kyrox said firmly, "You're just paranoid, they're just paranoid, this is all one big misunderstanding."
"Ridiculous. I'm not paranoid, I'm just trying to keep people safe." Xiyak said.
"By throwing them into battle?" Kyrox seethed.
"The ends justifies the means, Kyrox!" Xiyak exclaimed, "Once the fight is over and we win, we'll win everything."
"We'll lose everything, too." Knexedy said, "All of our friendships, our bonds, our trust...it'll all be gone."
"We don't need any trust beyond our fellow neophytes." Xiyak assured her. Without waiting for a reply, she turned back around and threw herself into the fighting once more.
Kyrox and Knexedy could only stare, frustrated, after her, but they made no move to chase. It was hopeless; Xiyak truly seemed to believe that she would gain so much from beating the Nobodies.
With a hopeless sigh, Zexion closed his laptop. It had by now frozen, and he had nothing available to fix it with.
Vexen looked over at the younger Nobody and briefly considered rubbing his failure into his face, but made no move to get up. Lexaeus, sitting on the wall opposite, burned with the relentless frustration of being completely immobile throughout this entire ordeal. But he knew he wasn't the only one suffering.
Zexion folded his hands in his lap and looked despondently up at the ceiling, undoubtedly trying to smell where the others were, if any others were left. But the overpowering odor of the Creator was too much to bear and he put his head back down with a sigh. Vexen too, seemed to have lost all of his arrogance from before and looked ready to lay down and die. Lexaeus wasn't doing much better.
Kingdom Hearts...is this our end? he wondered.
Xylle and Xion stared up, disbelieving, into the faces they saw before them. One was wreathed in fluffy pink hair and the other, framed by silverish-white locks. The two Nobodies looked down at Xylle and Xion with barely disguised humor in their eyes, as they waited for the girls to collect themselves.
"Marluxia...?" Xylle asked, standing up slowly.
"And...Superior? You set the Heartless on everyone?" Xion asked, confused.
"Yes. We did." Marluxia said.
"Not without some help!" Axel, who was not far away, protested. They looked around to where Axel was busy untying Axille, who looked surprisingly relaxed for what she had been through.
"Axille! You're safe!" Xion exclaimed, running towards her. Axille barely had time to react before Xion had her off of the ground and in her arms, squeezing the life out of her.
"Gkh! I'm glad to see you too, Xion!" Axille said happily, "Betcha didn't see that one coming, didja?"
"You mean, you were in on it too?" Xylle asked, staring at the girl.
Axille rolled her eyes at Axel and shook her head.
"Well, not at first. At first, after Axel yelled at me and I ran off, Superiore found me and said I might be able to help him. That was kinda when the truth came out, but I was fine. He told me he, and some others, had started the Heartless invasion to—"
"That's quite enough, Axille." Marluxia said sternly, "Come here, you silly girl."
Axille turned around and ran back to Marluxia, clinging to his cloak. She cast a funny grin Xylle and Xion's way but stayed put as Axel started talking.
"But this crazy crew isn't full yet," he said, "our last party guest should be arriving..."
"I'm here."
They all looked around to see Zexion slinking out of a portal towards them, looking tired but alert.
"The last of the illusory Heartless have been destroyed, Superior." he said to Xemnas, "The only exception being the Creator, which is still busy entertaining numbers IV, V, and Illusion-Zexion."
Axel made a face.
"Man, Vexen's slow!" he laughed, "Woo, if only he knew he'd been busy screaming at an illusion all day!"
"He never will know, number VIII." Zexion snapped.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Xion and Xylle were struggling to catch up until Xylle finally shouted, "Will you tell me what you're talking about?"
Zexion looked over at the two and seemed to notice them for the first time.
"Did you two enjoy your romp through the castle's abandoned hallways?" he asked dryly.
"Er...they were kind of spooky. But exciting, anyways." Xion said, nodding warily.
Axille piped up again.
"I know!" she exclaimed, "I couldn't believe it when Marly and Axey brought me through here! I wanted to go off everywhere and look around everywhere..."
"But if we had let you, you would probably be running blindly out a window right now." Marluxia said, reaching down to grip the child's hood with long, spidery fingers.
"Oh and Superior?" Zexion said suddenly, calling Xemnas' attention to him, "I just went by the Hall of Empty Melodies (concealed of course). It appears that everyone is fighting each other, seeking to eliminate themselves. Should we be concerned?"
Xemnas shook his head, but stopped and swept his gaze thoughtfully over the crew, but mostly targeting the younger members. The wheels turned in his mind as he looked them up and down.
"I'm afraid you have seen too much today." he said. Confused, Xylle and Xion looked at each other, very aware of how silent the room had become.
They looked up again to see Xemnas holding out a gloved hand to them, with dark magic circling around it in an ominous ring. There was a flash, and the next thing anyone knew, numbers XIV and XXVI's eyes widened and they crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Horrorstruck, Axille clung to Marluxia's leg. She had been watching the whole scene intently, and stiffened up when she felt the Assassin gently pulling her away from his leg. She was pushed out to be in front of Xemnas and she gazed up at him fearfully, watching the magic gathering again.
"Sorry Axille." she heard Axel say, "But we can't risk anyone finding out."
A blinding white burn of light later, and Axille was unconscious beside the others.
"Get them out of here." Xemnas barked, after ensuring they were good and knocked out. "As for the rest of you, slip into the fighting and break it apart, but give nothing of today's events away. If I hear so much as a whisper, you shall be erased."
The three others nodded and took a girl each, dragging them to their rooms through a few portals.
Left alone, Xemnas killed the lights in Heart's Containment and slipped through a portal of his own, on his way to quell the fighting that had sprung up in his Order.
Axel slipped into the fighting and sought out Roxas and Demyx. He was surprised to see how violent things had become, and he quickened his search for his friends.
But after a few minutes of ducking and dodging blind attacks from both sides, Axel faded to the sidelines and watched from afar, dismayed.
"Great, now how do I find them?" he muttered.
His answer was given in the form of a tight, rope-like object being strung around his neck and jerked backwards, causing the Flurry to fall back and hit the marble floor hard.
He flailed as the unseen enemies dragged him backwards and he tried summoning his chakrams, to find his arms had been skillfully pinned to his side where he couldn't use them. As he struggled, he felt his body becoming tied down more and more with each movement and he growled in frustration.
"Talk, you No—oh Axel, it's you."
Axel froze and stared angrily up at the the familiar, narrowed green eyes of Axbrem. She stepped back and Xisel appeared, moving her hands around. Looking around, Axel saw Alice the doll floating towards him; his blood ran cold when he saw the little puppet was holding a pair of black scissors.
His eyes widened and he panicked, shouting, "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry I yelled at Axille! No need to cut me, geez!"
He shut his eyes tight and tensed, waiting for the blade. But instead, he heard an innocent little snip and he suddenly had control of his limbs again. Looking up again, he saw a thin thread trailing from the scissors as Alice returned to Xisel. Axel stood up and glared haughtily at the puppetmaster, but he couldn't see her eyes and he looked away.
"That's not what we were going for, but hey—you're forgiven!" Leixym said as she stepped back.
"What is going on here?" Axel exclaimed, gesturing to the grouped Nobodies, "Why is everyone after everyone else's blood?"
"It's Xiyak." Axbrem said grimly, "She's gone completely insane! She thinks that you older Nobodies are out to destroy us and so she's out trying to destroy them. And based on what Roxas and Demyx have told us, the others are thinking the same thing. No one's listening to reason or willing to see sense, so we've been hiding out here until we can figure something out."
Axel scratched the back of his neck and sighed.
"Man...if Mansex were here, he'd make everyone stop." he muttered.
The neophytes (plus Roxas and Demyx) immediately looked distressed.
"Yes..." Oz murmured, "Everyone listens to the Superior. He'd stop the fighting..."
"If only he were here." Knexedy sighed as she dropped to the ground.
"If only." Xavier echoed.
Kyrox looked from one person to the next, his hands clenched until they were white and his palms were bleeding, but even he could see the dawning hopelessness of the situation.
"What do we do?" Roxas murmured, "The Organization's falling apart."
"We can't fight...we'd be hurting our friends." Oz said, "And we can't sit back and not fight...then our friends hurt each other."
"It feels like we're caught between a rock and a hard place." Axbrem deadpanned.
Axel sighed and sat back, his dark green gaze shifting from one face to the other.
"There's got to be a way." he said encouragingly, "There's always a way."
Demyx studied the ceiling thoughtfully before he dared venture a suggestion.
"Well, y'know...me an' Xigbar are pretty close...maybe I could try persuading him to stop if I went and talked to him." he said hesitantly.
"Yes...and Anix and I are still friends; perhaps our friendships will win out?" Kyrox mused.
"Xiyak and I were pretty close at one time." Xavier said gruffly, "Maybe she'll stop being a bonehead and remember."
"That's more like it." Axel said approvingly, "Why don't you guys go try again, and I'll see if I can't soften up some of the guys on the 'older' side, eh?"
They all leaped to their feet, their old hope rekindled thanks to the Flurry; the neophytes drew their weapons and slipped off into the mayhem, while Demyx and Roxas separated to try their luck elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Axel looked around before sliding back onto "his" side of the fighting. He knew Xemnas would be there soon...he just had to bide his time and make sure no one got killed.
Zexion slipped down into the basement while Vexen and Lexaeus were sharing a watch. His illusion was starting to wear out from time, so he dismissed the fake-Zexion and smoothly took its place, looking up, unaffected, when Vexen came back.
"Can't you do something on that infernal contraption of yours?" he snapped, his weariness from the stressful day making him more irritable than normal.
"I already am." Zexion replied simply, "After running a few more tests, I found that the Creator has just enough electrical signals for me to tap into and manipulate from my computer. In fact..."
He paused and bent over his laptop, flicking his finger lazily across the trackpad as he activated the program. He pressed the ENTER key on the keyboard and there was silence for a moment, before Lexaeus came running back down.
"The Creator is moving!" he announced. Zexion stood up and carried his laptop with him, leading the two older Nobodies to the blob as he continued to work at his computer.
"Ah...it acts as a virus." he murmured, "I can counter that easily."
And indeed, after about six minutes of typing, clicking, and messing with the keyboard, the Creator shriveled up on the steps and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Vexen and Lexaeus stood, mouths agape, as they watched Zexion nonchalantly climb the stairs to get out of the basement.
"Why didn't you do that before?" Vexen asked, after he had gotten over his surprise.
"I had to create the appropriate software. I was almost done two hours ago, when someone forced me to shut down my programs to deal with a useless fight!" Zexion snapped.
Vexen looked away, momentarily sheepish, as they ran up the stairs and migrated to the Hall of Empty Melodies.
Inwardly, Zexion breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure how effective the lie would be to the Academic, but he was pleased to see he seemed to be buying it.
Lexaeus trailed along behind, guarding the rear of the group. He had a very thoughtful expression on his face as he wondered about Zexion's sudden defeat of the Creator.
Something was just very wrong here...
Xigbar looked around for the next Nobody to fight when he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He spun around, pointing his guns at whatever it was, only to see it was Demyx, looking up at him with big teal eyes.
"Whaddya want, kid?" the Freeshooter asked.
"You need to stop fighting, Xig!" Demyx exclaimed.
Xigbar was taken aback. He stared at the Nocturne before him, his surprise bright in his eye.
"What?" he snapped, "Is there something stuck up in your brain?"
"No." Demyx said stubbornly, "You need to quit fighting! Look around, Xig! You're hurting the neophytes, the neophytes are hurting you...eventually, if we don't stop, we're all going to end up dead!"
"They're traitors, Dem." Xigbar said, "It's our job to kill traitors."
"But Xemnas has the 'No Killing Neophytes' policy, remember? You even told Darxet that on your first mission with him! You said that you weren't allowed to kill neophytes! Are you going back on that now?" Demyx challenged the older Nobody.
"There's an exception in that for traitors, kid." Xigbar growled.
"What proof do you have that they're traitors?" Demyx asked him, "Besides your own paranoia, that is."
"The Heartless." Xigbar said simply.
"How could they be behind the Heartless?" Demyx scoffed, "They can't summon them, and they've all, more or less, been with us all day. Either us, or someone else."
Xigbar sighed and put his guns away, staring at the little twerp before him with a twisted frown. Of all the...
"Fine." he said, "I'll stop. For now," he added, catching the look on Demyx's face, "But if I catch so much as a whisper of treachery, I'm spiking them on the tips of my arrows. Got it?"
Demyx nodded, smiling widely. "Got it!"
As the two disappeared into the crowd to dissuade some others, Xigbar was looking around the room with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Actually, come to think of it...this was a pretty stupid fight, wasn't it?" he asked.
Demyx rolled his eyes and laughed.
"Finally you realize that!" he crowed.
When the "A-Team," as Axel so affectionately called Axbrem's group, had convened again, they were pleased to see at least a few faces that had traded sides. Xigbar, Anix, and Luxord now huddled together with the group as they discussed.
"Okay, so what's the roll now?" Axbrem asked. Knexedy looked around, counting off people as she went.
"Okay there's Xigbar, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Roxas, Kyrox, Xisel, Me, Leixym, Xavier, Axbrem, and Anix here. That means they have Xaldin, Saix, Marluxia, Larxene, Amenxtthe, Xiyak, Syaxsal, Cavex, and Darxet. We're up by three, but numbers don't necessarily win wars." she said.
"It's really stupid that they're fighting just each other now." Leixym said, "I'm wondering when they figure out that—"
"Traitors!"
Leixym stopped mid-sentence as the other side turned to face them, their differences momentarily forgotten.
Their side stood up and drew their weapons, ready to fight again should they need to, but before a blow could be landed, a light sound dissipated into the air. Everything went deathly quiet as twenty-one faces turned to look up at the figure who had appeared in the Hall.
Zexion swept ahead of his little group as they ran out into the Hall of Empty Melodies. And...what a sight greeted them there!
Xemnas stood on one of the balconies that overlooked the arena, and neophytes and Nobodies alike were staring up at him, eyes tired but intense. Their weapons were drawn and Zexion could see they were split raggedly down the middle, like two sides in a war.
He made a "shh" motion to Vexen and Lexaeus, coming up behind him, as Xemnas began to speak.
"My friends," he said, "what has become of you? Merely yesterday, were you not all friends and partners, perfectly at peace? What has torn my Order apart in such a small space of time, I wonder..."
"The Heartless!" a high, clear voice rang through the room. All heads turned to see Larxene standing boldly at the front, her eyes gleaming. "Someone set a siege of Heartless on us! It was obviously someone in the Organization, but who knows who it was...?"
Xemnas tilted back his head and closed his eyes, as if praying for patience. However, when he let his head fall again, his gaze was unfazed as a slow smile crept into his face and he spread his arms wide.
"But Heartless...do we not fight Heartless every day?" he asked, "Why should you react so violently to an attack, even if you were caught off-guard? And what makes you so sure it was not just an unfortunate event, instead of a planned attack?"
He's very good at this, Zexion thought, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was just as clueless as the rest of them.
Larxene didn't have a reply, but she didn't back down either. She set to searching her Superior's face for a sign or signal that he knew something she didn't. But she saw nothing on the emotionless face as he went on.
"I understand how tired you all must be." he said, "And that fatigue has led you to be irrational and your minds to be clouded. Rest, my friends. After you have rested and regained your better judgment, you will see how foolish this senseless fighting truly was. Please, lay down your arms and go to your beds; rest for the next three days and then you will feel much better."
Zexion twitched his ears as he listened to Xemnas' speech. This kind of generosity was very uncharacteristic of him...
I wonder what he's doing?
But, much to his surprise, he saw that Axbrem's group was the first to dismiss their weapons. After a brief moment of hesitation, the other side did likewise. An awkward silence passed in which Xemnas took a portal to his office and the opposing sides looked warily at the other, still tense.
However, the tension dissolved when Zexion caught sight of Xisel and Knexedy saw Vexen. A shout of joy erupted from the black-haired girl as she dashed over and attacked Vexen with a throttling hug. Vexen staggered under the sudden weight of his neophyte and he eventually pushed her off, glaring at her.
"Vexen! You're alive!" Knexedy exclaimed.
"Apparently I am, Knexedy." Vexen said. Knexedy made a face and playfully punched the scientist in the arm.
"Come on, Vexen!" she complained, "I told you to call me Kennie!"
Vexen sighed and Zexion left him to it as he walked towards Xisel. Heavy footsteps beside him warned him of Lexaeus' presence but the hulking Nobody soon veered away to check up on Syaxsal.
Roxas watched the goings-on and antics of the two groups in confusion. Darxet and Xigbar were laughing together like old times, Anix and Saix had lost their former hostility towards each other and were talking quietly, and Xavier had gone back to pestering Marluxia. It was like the entire fight to the death hadn't even happened!
"This is weird." he murmured to Axel.
"Yeah, no kidding." his friend said. "Hey by the way, want to know where Axille is?"
Roxas brightened up and he nodded, "Yes! Where is she, Axel? I've been worried sick all day!"
"She's up in your room. I think she was ambushed and knocked unconscious; I found her up by the View." Axel told him.
Roxas held up a hand and tried opening a portal, hoping it would work. At first, there was nothing, and then the familiar swirling doorway opened up before him. Dimly, he recalled Xemnas had come in by way of a corridor, and figured that it had become useable again when Xemnas performed it.
"I'll see you later, Axel." Roxas said, waving his friend goodbye. Axel waved before going back to a conversation with Axbrem, Demyx, and Leixym.
The Flurry listened to the idle buzz of the Nobodies fill his ears and he couldn't help a small frown. Despite all the happy faces and forgiving words, and the expressions of joy that the fighting was over, he could still sense a lingering distrust rising from the older and younger Nobodies.
A grim thought crossed his mind as he looked around the room, watching.
We're far from over.