* = Author's Note – please see bottom of chapter for explanation.
=13=
"Get a load of this, Xemnas. "This is not because you are forcing yourself to do so in a feeble attempt to fill some nonexistent void of a missing heart. Your heart was never missing to begin with- it was simply lying dormant within you." Boy, the kid really did figure everything out, didn't she?"
The one-eyed man continued to waltz around The Round Room, flailing his arms about in a spectacular show of enthusiasm as he continued to read from the first note that he had found upon rummaging through the laboratory within Castle Oblivion. However, he did happen to conveniently leave out the portion that had been written about Axel, and Vexen's cause of death- he had made the man a deal after all, and he wasn't going to go back upon his word so easily. The words that left Xigbar's lips forced a heavy sigh from the silver-haired leader, who was currently disappointed with how horribly things had turned out. However, he was more concerned with the notes that Xigbar currently had within his possession, and how their biggest secret had only been moments away from being revealed to the rest of the unsuspecting members.
"I won't lie, I really did have high hopes for the kid. And losin' Zexion was a damn shame, too. I can only begin to wonder what happened to them there… especially with all the blood an' stuff that I found."
"Whatever happened there is of no importance to us now. What matters now is that we prepare for Sora's awakening- after all, we still have one Key Bearer amongst us. And, now that we are in need of it, I believe that we should fall back onto our failsafe."
A thoughtful hum passed Xigbar's lips, and he took one last glance over the note that he held within his hand. He then turned his attention back to his leader, still sitting high and mighty upon his throne. He extended his arm, showing the letter in his direction as if asking what he wished to be done with it.
"Destroy them. No one else is to ever learn of the secrets those two unfortunately discovered. When you are done with that, destroy all files of her- I want no trace left behind. As of now, she never existed."
Xigbar shrugged, immediately tearing the note into small pieces before shoving them into his pocket. He then took out the other ones he found, performing the same ritual upon them before placing what remained into his pocket once more. He would burn them later, just to be safe.
"I take it you want me to tell the others that she should just be forgotten then, eh? I doubt they're going to take that as it is. She was a member, just like the rest of us."
"She was nothing more than an abomination. Her power should never have been bestowed upon a Nobody… but, should they continue to wonder why she is to be forgotten, simply tell them that she betrayed the Organization's best interests, and as such, met an unfortunate end."
"Yeah, yeah. I get it- I'll just lie and whatever to make them think she wasn't thinkin' in our best interest. Besides, if they hear it's an order from you, they'll listen."
Before Xemnas could get any further words out, Xigbar departed from The Round Room. As much as he hated to admit it, talking about her made him feel rather screwed up inside- after all, he was the one who killed her.
=13=
As the remaining members of the Organization came to find out about who they now referred to as "her," rumors began to circulate through the castle. Whispers were all that could be said between members, as talking about her or even referring to her in any way had since been forbidden. Those in Castle Oblivion all met unfortunate ends, but her death alone wasn't what started all the rumors- it was the fact that only two days after being told about it, a new female member was brought into the Organization. And this one had the same ability that Roxas did.
To the other members, it felt as though Xemnas had immediately replaced her with someone that could be of more use to him- someone that had an ability that better suited his goals. Of course, none of them would ever argue or challenge the words of their leader, but that most certainly didn't mean that what he was doing was going without notice.
The slight tap of hard paper against glass could be heard throughout the otherwise silent room. The night was dark- darker than usual, since heavy clouds were currently covering the normally bright, heart-shaped moon. Another tap of paper against glass, and then another.
*"Nineteen out of twenty-one. I believe that crowns me the winner of this round, Demyx."
"Aw, man! C'mon, Luxord… you're takin' all my munny! I'm not gonna have anything left!"
"Well, that's what you get when you keep placing high bets, lad. Care to go another round?"
Demyx eagerly nodded his head- there was never any stopping him when it came to rather clumsy or stupid decisions. The idea that he could win back triple what he had wagered was all that was on his mind at the moment, and he anxiously watched as Luxord expertly shuffled the deck of cards before placing them facedown upon the end of the table. He then locked eyes with the younger man in front of him, giving him a small smile as he placed the equivalent of three-hundred and fifty thousand munny upon the opposite end of the table. Deymx eyed the large pile, then dug into his own pockets and placed only five thousand upon the table. Luxord gave a nod at this, and then folded his hands together upon his lap.
"First card."
Two cards leapt off the top of the deck, each one landing facedown upon either man's side. Deymx quickly looked at his number, mentally making a note of it before glancing over at Luxord to see him peering underneath his card. He then waved his hand in a gesture of grace, allowing Demyx to be the first one to either draw or stay.
"Gimme another one."
Another card leapt off the deck, landing upon Demyx's side of the table.
"So… what are your thoughts about what's been going on lately, lad?"
Demyx stopped looking at his card almost immediately, a frown crossing his lips for a moment before he leaned back against the couch and crossed one leg over the other as he attempted to get comfortable.
"I dunno… I get the new kid is important to the completion of Kingdom Hearts and whatever, but Xemnas is acting like he doesn't even care about the guys we lost at Castle Oblivion. I mean yeah, some of them were kinda pushy, but they were still a part of us, y'know? Not to mention he's trying to make us entirely forget (Name)- I mean, her. That's just really weird to me."
Luxord gave a small nod of his head, saying the word "draw" quietly before another card landed on his end of the table. He gave the underside of it a quick glance, and then cleared his throat before beginning to reply to what the younger member had said to him.
"I happen to agree with you. The entire idea of simply forgetting someone who had been around since the very beginning ails me. I am not the type of man to simply eject someone from my mind- especially someone who was kind to me. Not to mention she played a damn good game of cards."
The two of them were silent for a while- Demyx drew two more cards, while Luxord only drew one more and then stayed. Demyx hummed to himself while he thought about whether he wanted another card or not, but in the end, he decided to stay and not draw anything else. Luxord closed his eyes, adding up each number that he had drawn in his head to get a grand total of twenty. Unless Demyx miraculously managed to obtain the equivalent of twenty-one, there was no way that he would lose this round. However, before the two of them were able to flip their cards and reveal their totals, their attention was drawn to the entrance into the meeting room. Roxas, who seemed to be half asleep, had wandered into the room and had his attention focused on Luxord.
"Ah, Roxas. Is something amiss, lad? You seem to be overtaken by sleep."
"I need to talk to you about something."
Roxas's answer took the Gambler a bit by surprise, but he sighed softly before rising to his feet. He looked over at the anxious Demyx, giving him a slight wave of his hand.
"Don't worry, I shall return soon enough. Give me a few moments."
With that, the older male walked over to the entrance, only to be led further out into the hallway by the younger boy. Once they were far enough away from the meeting room, Roxas sighed heavily and rubbed his eye with his palm.
"Do you really think it's okay for us to just forget about (Name) like this? She didn't seem like a bad person, right? I know Xigbar said that she had betrayed the Organization somehow, but… I just don't see that."
Although the sudden questioning about her was something that Luxord wasn't expecting, he assumed that a large part of it had to do with the boy being half asleep. If he was honest, accepting the fact that a large portion of their Organization had been killed off wasn't an easy feat- it certainly didn't help him sleep any better at night, either. And, seeing as how Roxas seemed to be rather close to Axel, there was the lingering feeling that the poor boy was becoming restless wondering what happened to him- what happened to all of them, in fact. Everything that happened at Castle Oblivion was a complete mystery to those still residing within the base, and that was something that a quite a few people didn't take kindly to.
"Allow me to tell you this, Roxas: sometimes people do things for a reason that remains unseen to those around them. Though you did not know her as long as some of us did, what truly matters is how you remember her- not what another member expects you to believe from simple word of mouth. To me, she shall remain a wonderful opponent in the art of cards and gambling, alongside being a rather kind person- if you could call her kind. After all, we still lack hearts. This can also be said for anyone else who unfortunately met their end within those castle walls; your memories of the time you spent together is what defines everything about them. They might be gone, but they are most certainly not forgotten."
The Gambler placed a hand upon the blonde boy's shoulder, his head bobbing forward slightly as he gave a reassuring nod in Roxas's direction. He hoped that the boy understood what he was attempting to explain to him- after all, he was still rather young. He watched as Roxas responded with nothing more than a small nod and a quiet hum, then rubbed his eye once more before beginning to wander back towards his room. Watching this made a sigh pass Luxord's lips, and he shook his head slowly before turning around and beginning to walk back into the meeting room to finish his game with Demyx.
'Perhaps I should learn to take my own advice. I have lost more hours of sleep than I'd like to admit since the day the unfortunate fate of our colleagues was revealed to us. No matter what Xemnas wishes us to do, we all know that they shall never be truly forgotten.'
The Gambler forced whatever thoughts remained within his mind to the side as he took a seat upon the couch once again, much to the delight of the ever-eager Nocturne.
"Yes, yes… I know you are more than eager to reveal your cards to me, Demyx. Come- we shall compare our numbers."
With one quick motion of his hand, Luxord flipped over the three cards that were in his possession to reveal the numbers 11, 6, and 3. Demyx scrambled to turn over his cards, not even bothering to look at the numbers that resided on Luxord's side of the table- the numbers that he revealed were 7, 8, 4, and 2. The Gambler cocked an eyebrow as he did the math within his head, and then gave a rather pleased smile before leaning back against the head of the couch.
"Congratulations, Demyx. It would seem as though you finally managed to best me! You beat my hand by one, and landed a perfect twenty-one. The bet is all yours."
Demyx grinned as he wrapped his arms around the large sum of munny that he had just won, working to push the items off the table and into the pockets of his coat. Luxord shook his head as the sound of munny clattering to the floor filled his ears, and he couldn't help the chuckle that passed his lips as the younger male scrambled across the floor to collect everything that he had just dropped.
"You know, your worth is not judged based on the amount you hold in your pockets."
"I-I know that, Lux!"
The Gambler rolled his eyes, then rose to his feet and brushed himself off before drawing his deck of cards back into the sleeves of his coat. He then began to pace down the long hallway that connected to the meeting room, his electric-blue eyes gazing at the empty room that once housed (Name). Anything that she had kept within the room was now gone, and it was as if no one had ever lived there from the beginning- this made Luxord give a disappointed shake of his head before he continued off down the hallway, his mind focused on finally ending the day with what he hoped would be a good night's rest for once.
'There was once a time when we worked together for completion of Kingdom Hearts. Now, it seems that all that is left is an Organization full of secrets- an Organization of disorganized people.'
=13=
Author's Note (1): Demyx and Luxord are playing a rendition of Blackjack, or Twenty-One; whichever you prefer. This version uses a stack of cards numbered 1 – 11, and each card can only be drawn once. Whoever has cards that add up closest to 21 wins- anything over 21 is an immediate loss.
Author's Note (2): This chapter was mainly used to describe the outcome of Xemnas's choice to make the other members forget about (Name). It shows that Xemnas, even though he still believes he has full control over the other members, is slowly beginning to lose his overall grip on a vast majority of them. In his attempt to correct the mistake of allowing a gamble (labeled as such due to his indecision on whether or not she would be viable to the Organization in the long run) like (Name) into the Organization, he is forming a growing feeling of distrust and suspicion.
Author's Note (3): As I stated before, I had to alter things within the timeline in order to make this story work better. One of those things was Xion- she did not come into the Organization until after the events at Castle Oblivion within this story, whereas in the original timeline, she came in before the events at Castle Oblivion. I couldn't just leave her out entirely- as much as I've seen people like to argue about whether she was important or not, she was important.