I'm back! And ready to update. Anywho, the origins for Xyran are based primarily off of Spirit Okami's own vague details. So for this chapter, he gets some credit!

Xyran: "DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, Xyran, Cossex, or anything else. He's tried."

!

Chapter 102: Tale of the Inheritor

Cossex walked silently through the corridors of the Brotherhood palace. It had been three days since the Horned King had returned from the City of Gypsies. Even though Frollo had died during his mission, the sorcerer hadn't been punished. His actual mission had been to test out uses of Darkness on other beings, rather like he had with Oogie Boogie.

Had the judge survived, and captured the Keybearers, it would have been a welcome bonus.

As it was, things were mostly unchanged around the base. At the moment, it was nearly midnight, and the rain was coming down harder than usual outside. The majority of the Brotherhood was asleep. Cossex had been a bit surprised to discover that Nobodies still required sleep, but apparently 'exhaustion' didn't count as an emotion.

But sleep didn't come easily to her anymore. Her dreams were plagued by memories of the attack on Cynthis. The burning farm, her brother falling, the mass of black creatures storming into the capital…

Cossex shook her head, as if this would help to clear the unwanted thoughts from her head.

She walked on, hoping to find something else to focus her attention on to keep the memories at bay. As it was, she did about five minutes later, in the form of soft music coming from somewhere ahead of her.

Pausing for a moment to try to make out where it was coming from, she followed it to its source.

In a moment, she found it. She had arrived on one of the wide balconies on the seventh floor. A sloped ceiling hung over it, with the rainwater dripping down off the edge one foot in front of the ornately carved railing. Leaning on this railing, gazing out at the ruined Salusis before him, was Xyran.

Soft breezes seemed to flow around him as he absent-mindedly moved his fingers. It took Cossex a moment to realize that this was the cause of the music. He was somehow manipulating the air currents to make different sounds.

Genuinly impressed, Cossex leaned against the doorframe, listening. The music was soft and uplifting, which was surprising considering who was making it.

Xyran's song lasted several more minutes, before it faded off into a deep note, and came to a slow end. Cossex lifted her hands, and clapped softly.

The other Nobody started and turned. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it was her.

"I didn't peg you as a musician." She said.

"I didn't peg you as an eavesdropper." Xyran replied jokingly. "You liked it?"

"It was very good." She said, leaning on the railing to his left. "Where did you learn to do that?"

He took a moment to respond. "I learned a lot of things from Organization XIII."

Having learned several things about the Organization from Serndask, and a few more from the revived Saix and Larxene, she was now 'curious.'

"Serndask said that you ran away from the Organization before." She said, being careful how she chose her words. "What did he mean by that?"

Once again, Xyran waited a moment before replying. He took out something from the inside pocket of his jacket, near where his heart would have been, had he had one.

It was a flat, circular medallion on a thin silver chain. It prominently featured the head of a dragon, wrought in silver, with saphire blue eyes.

He held this medallion in his palm for a moment, and looked into it as if he was trying to come up with an answer to Cossex's question. Finally, he said, "Are you sure you've got the time?"

"What else do I have to do around here?"

"Give Saix his rabies shot so he doesn't hurt anyone..." Xyran answered. "But, alright."

!

"I was a part of Xemnas's group for a while, before it was officially called 'Organization XIII.' I joined a bit over a year after that hag Larxene, but before that Roxas guy was born. I wasn't an official member, more of an... apprentice."

Twilight Town's old mansion was as it always was, old and undisturbed, save for a select few visitors.

From the twin doors at the front walked a boy who looked to be around the age of sixteen or seventeen. He had spiked blonde hair, blue eyes, and a black jacket with a cross emblem. He took in his new surroundings with what would have been an air of mixed curiosity and confusion.

As he arrived at the closed, iron barred gates, a tall, muscled figure in a hooded black coat appeared.

Immediately, the teenager dropped into a fighting stance, summoning an unfamiliar spear through means he didn't know. He gazed at the cloaked figure, as if daring him to challenge him.

But the man in black merely took a few steps forward, and opened the gates with a simple tug. He held up his hands in a placating gesture, and stood still for a moment.

Looking at the figure with what appeared to be guarded curiosity, the boy dismissed his weapon.

The man lowered his hands. "You feel nothing."

When the boy said nothing, he continued with, "Your heart is consumed by Darkness. I can offer you a way to reclaim it; To fill the void in your soul."

Still no response.

"Do you want a meaning? A purpose?"

Slowly, he nodded.

"Good." The man said, satisfaction evident in his voice. He raised his hand. Four golden, transparent letters appeared in front of the boy's face, spelling out his former name. These letters began to spin rapidly around his head, until they were a gold blurred ring around his head.

The ebongarbed man suddenly thrust out his hand, interjecting a large blue 'X' into the spinning letters.

"Xyran." The newly born Nobody read.

Xemnas smiled beneath his hood, his amber eyes glinting as he delivered the line he had developed through years of practice. "A brand new you."

!

Where Nothing Gathers: The meeting place of the Organization. There were currently twelve tall throne-like chairs, of varying height situated around the circular room. In just over a year's time, there would be a thirteenth.

The highest of these chairs stretched half-way to the ceiling, and sat directly across from the only conventional entrance to the room. Xemnas (hood now lowered, like the rest of the people in the room) sat in this chair, situated in between those of Xigbar and Xaldin.

"Gentlemen, I've arranged this meeting-"

"Ahem..."

"What is it, Number XII?"

Larxene (practically on the opposite side of the room from him) looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Gentlemen?"

"You've got to be kidding me." Axel muttered.

"Number XII." Saix said. "We have more important things to discuss than-"

"Aw, c'mon Saix." Xigbar interrupted, leaning heavily on the arm of his chair. "Show a little courtesy to the only chick in the Organization."

"Five to one says this turns violent." Luxord called jokingly to the rest of the room.

Xemnas lifted one open hand, which was crackling with energy formed of Nothingness. The room fell silent at once.

"Gentlemen, and lady. I've arranged this meeting to introduce the rest of you to our new recruit."

The newly named Xyran, in his new black Organization coat, entered the room through its only door. He came to a stop in the center of the room, and looked up at Xemnas.

"This is Xyran, our new apprentice."

"Say again?" Demyx asked, looking back and forth between Xemnas and Xyran in apparent confusion.

"Superior," Zexion said, "Why an apprentice? We've never had to mentor Nobodies in the past."

"Could it be that he has no powers of his own, and so we must teach them?" Vexen began, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "I which case, I hardly see why we should waste any time at all on-"

"Be quiet Vexen." Lexaeus abruptly interrupted. As he didn't often speak, it was a good idea to listen to him when he did.

"Yes, Vexen." Xaldin added. "Still your tongue, or I'll gladly rip it from your mouth."

"And wouldn't that be such a shame?" Marluxia threw in.

"Enough." Xemnas interrupted again. "Xyran's powers lie in a less predictable direction than many of ours. And so it falls to us to develop them, until they manifest fully."

He looked directly at Xyran. "And it also falls upon him to take his lessons seriously."

"Yes, Superior."

!

"Like I told you, I learned plenty of things from them. Pretty much everything I know about combat today."

"WRONG!" Xaldin shouted yet again, as Xyran lay on the ground with a new gash across his arm, and his spear lying several feet away.

Using only three of his six lances, the Whirlwind Lancer had managed to disarm and cut Xyran for the fourth time. The scars on his arms and legs were a clear testament to this.

"I could have taken your entire arm off with that one, boy." Xaldin said, standing over him. "You need to be vicious in combat to survive. Never hesitate when you strike, always aim to hurt or to kill."

Xyran glared at him, and picked up his spear again. Without preamble, he thrust it at Xaldin's chest, only to have it smacked aside by one of his lances. "Faster!"

Xyran attacked again, aiming a slash at the older Nobody's shoulder, which was also deflected. He kept attacking, aiming at every place on Xaldin's body, packing a lot of energy into the strikes in an attempt to hurt him in some way.

"I mean everything."

"Wait for your opponent to strike first." Vexen said, as Xyran pounded away against his shield. "Eventually, he will tire himself out."

Vexen never lashed out with his shield as the young Nobody came on in a flurry of attacks. He would only ever move it as much as he needed to to catch his blows.

"The moment you see a gaping hole in his defense," The Chilly Academic said, "Then strike!"

As he had predicted, Xyran was beginning to wear himself out. He launched a clumsy strike at his stomach, which Vexen easily swept aside. With his defenses now gone, he attacked with an icy blast to his chest.

Xyran shot backwards, skidding across the ground. Vexen smiled. "Lesson: learned."

"Some of them were pretty... interesting."

"Your eyes can decieve you. As a matter of fact, they often do." Came Zexion's voice, seemingly from everywhere. "Find me."

Xyran stood in the midst of a massive storm, in the middle of an old, long-since ruined city. Tall, brick buildings stood all around them, sporting gaping holes or shattered windows. Rubble littered the ground around him on the street.

But as Zexion had said, the eyes could deceive. It was all one massive illusion, and a very good one. But Xyran could have sworn it was real. He could feel the raindrops pattering against his skin and clothing.

Obeying Zexion's order, he ran down the street, going on blind instinct in an attempt to find him.

Mere minutes later, he was attacked without warning. A tall, heavily muscled man covered head to toe in shining red and gold armor leapt down from the top of a nearby two-story building, wielding the single largest blade he had ever seen. It may have been his imagination, but it looked slightly like a Keyblade...

A stumbling leap backwards was all that kept him from being smashed under his armored feet. He summoned Edge of the Storm, and thrust it forward into the man's chest.

The armored man disappeared the moment the blade touched him. In his place was a pebble, which had been dropped from the roof. Mentally kicking himself, Xyran reminded himself that Zexion really loved to mess with people's heads.

But, he's given himself away.

He rushed up onto the roof of an abandoned car sitting nearby, and leapt onto a ladder leaning on the side of the building. He hurried up it, and onto the roof of the building, only to find that Zexion wasn't there.

A second armored figure was there instead. This one seemed to be female, and wore blue and silver armor similar to the man's. Her blade was also slightly similar, in the fact that it resembled a Keyblade.

"Okay, really funny, Zexion." Xyran said, rolling his eyes. "What's this one? Another rock?"

The armored woman ran at him with her blade raised. He hurriedly raised his blade, in order to block the strike that was coming his way. But her blade passed harmlessly through his, as did she.

The feather that was all she had actually been clung to Xyran's wet jacket. Growling in frustration, he plucked the feather off of his jacket, and let it fall to the ground.

"Okay, Zexion, you've made your point."

Apparently he didn't think so, because he then noticed a third armored figure on the building rooftop adjacent to his. He was slightly shorter than the other two, and garbed in bronze and black armor, and holding another Keyblade-like weapon.

The armored man leapt onto Xyran's building, and ran toward him. Thinking that this illusion was like the last one, he dismissed his spear, and waited for his arrival.

He ended up flying off the roof, and landing on the roof of the old car that he had used to arrive on the roof in the first place. Zexion stood high above him on the roof, holding nothing but an apple in his hand. He smiled in satisfaction, and took a bite.

"They all seemed pretty eager to take a crack at me during our training. Some of them more than others."

"All that 'enormous potential' the boss man sees in you won't do you any good if you can't catch your enemy!" Larxene taunted, leaping nimbly aside from Xyran's lunging attack.

"If your reflexes are sharp enough, you can dance all around him all day long," She continued, quickly leaving a small gash on his forearm, "Dealing a little bit of damage while he weakens ands gets tired."

Ignoring the pain, he slashed at her waist, only to have her leap over it entirely, and bring her knee into contact with his jaw.

He staggered backwards, and Larxene got in two quick jabs to his stomach before he recovered enough sense to slash forward with his spear.

"You're going to have to work harder than that, kid." Larxene mocked with a short laugh.

"Ugh... I still have the scars."

"Persevere." Saix said, coming on with huge heavy attacks that Xyran was having a hard time blocking. "Outlast your enemy, and wait for them to exhaust themselves. Vexen has already taught you this."

"But you'll find that this strategy can be rendered completely pointless when facing an enemy with great reserves of power."

As it so happened, they were having this particular sparring session in Saix's chamber in Addled Impasse. The giant window running alongside one of the walls offered a perfect view of the Organization's own Kingdom Hearts. It was still relatively small, but it had considerable power.

"Or," Saix continued, "If they have a means of gathering new strength, as I do." He swept at Xyran's legs, barely missing him with he leapt backwards. "Therefore, it is prudent for you to eliminate the source of their power, or turn it against them."

"That's what you'll have to do here." He fired a blast of blazing lunar energy at Xyran's chest, tossing him backwards. Dazed, but not defeated, he got back on his feet, using his spear to support some of his weight.

He knew that he'd have to block Saix's access to the moon outside. But he was still trying to come up with a way to do it with the Lunar Diviner attacking him. All he could think of was blocking it from sight.

He leapt toward the window, and climbed up the elaborately curved metal window frame. Barely noticeable, there was a small concealed panel near the top of the window itself. He hoped that it did what he thought it would do.

Edging away from a lunar blast, he moved as quickly as possible to the very top, bashing his fist into the small button on it.

White metal slammed down over the outside of the windows, casting the room into near darkness.

"You've done well."

"Why was that panel way up there?"

"Not all the lessons were too terrible, though."

"You must continue to grow." Lexaeus said. "Speed is important, but so is building a hardened wall of muscle with which to attack and defend."

Xyran was in the middle of a more conventional training session: weight lifting. Lexaeus had put him to work with a very impressive, diverse set of weights. At the moment, the younger Nobody was bringing all his strength to the task of lifting a barbell of about eighty-five pounds. He'd been able to lift it a few times, but now he was struggling.

"Pace yourself." Lexaeus advised. "Pushing yourself so hard that you collapse won't serve any purpose."

Abandoning his attempts to lift it for the moment, Xyran took the advice, and lowered the barbell almost to the ground. He took nearly a minute to catch his breath, before lifting it up even with his neck again.

Slowly he continued for another few minutes, before The Silent Hero put a hand on his shoulder. "That will be enough for now."

"Some of the guys in the Organization weren't so bad. I almost miss them."

"Alright, little dude." Xigbar said. "Time for a fun little reflex test."

"Didn't the hag already give me that particular lesson?"

Xigbar chuckled. "No worries, dude. I'll make sure this one is less, uh... 'informative.'" He summoned his two guns. "Now dodge the bullets."

"WHAT!"

The moment the Freeshooter opened fire Xyran leapt high into the air, landing on his other side, and stabbing backwards. Xigbar teleported away, and reappeared on the balcony of the Hall of Empty Melodies.

Chuckling, he fired down at Xyran. Moving as quickly as his legs could carry him, he sprinted out of the way, ducking under or jumping over the hail of bullets when it got too close.

"Nice job!" Xigbar congratulated, ceasing fire for a moment. "But what about this?"

He placed both of his weapons together, and held his finger down on the triggers. Bluish energy gathered at the pointed tips of the weapons. He held it there for a moment, before releasing the trigger, and firing a blast that was about as large as Xyran down at the floor.

It bounced off of it, and directly toward the young Nobody. He leapt out of its path, nearly getting struck by the second one that Xigbar fired down at him.

As they bounced around the room, narrowly missing him each time, Xigbar shouted support down to him.

"Granted, the stuff they taught me wasn't all practical..."

"There's a time to fight, and a time to relax, man." Demyx said, sitting on the ledge that overlooked the Dark City and much of the castle. The two of them were sitting at Naught's Approach.

"Um..." Xyran began, confused. "So, what? Should I just leave you and go relax?"

"Nah, sit down for a while." Demyx patted the space next to him, and summoned his sitar. "I want to teach you how to play this thing."

Xyran looked at it for a moment. "Uh, what exactly is it?"

"Why does everybody ask me that?"

"Sometimes, I was actually able to have fun during the training sessions."

"Let's make this interesting, shall we?" Luxord suggested, drawing his deck of special cards with a quick flourish of his fingers. "Ten munny says that you can't get me in three tries."

"You're on." Xyran replied with a grin.

"Excellent!" The older one said. With a quick flick of his wrist, he threw the cards at the floor of Havoc's Divide. Immediately, they expanded in size, becoming roughly the size of a tall human man.

They each stood up straight, blocking the Gambler of Fate from view completely. They closed in around him, and parted a moment later. Xyran had a brief view of Luxord's picture on one of them, before they all mixed themselves up.

"The game has begun." Came Luxord's voice. "Remember, use all of your senses."

He carefully tracked the progress of the card he believed to be Luxord's as it glided eerily across the smooth floor. Acting immediately, he threw Edge of the Storm into it, running it through completely.

The card turned slowly, showing nothing but the number four on it.

"One down." came Luxord's voice from one of the cards directly behind him.

He quickly spun around, and stabbed into the card at his back. It turned, revealing the number nine.

"Almost..." Luxord's voice was now on the far side of the platform. Xyran ran toward one of the cards there, and leapt. He sliced one vertically in half as he landed.

Two seconds after his apparent victory, he became a large die.

"I gotta tell you, Axel was a surprisingly good teacher."

"Alright goof ball, here's how this works." Axel said, summoning his chakrams. "Always look for weaknesses before an opponent starts a fight. Look at me, what do you think is my weakness?"

"Water?"

"What else?"

Xyran observed Axel's battle stance for a moment, his footing, the slope of his shoulders, but then he noticed the weapons. "Those are long range weapons. So... If I get in close, I have the advantage?"

"Exactly." Axel nodded. "But I worked around that weakness, and developed a special combat system to utilize these babies in close-quarters. You should do the same with your own weak points. Got it memorized?"

"As always, Axel." Xyran answered, rolling his eyes.

"That's 'Sensei Axel' to you!"

"But things got particularly interesting a few months into my training."

The garden of The Castle That Never Was looked ridiculously out of place among the sterile white walls, and black storm clouds. Rose bushes and sakura trees lined the long, high-walled, open-air chamber. A light rain was falling, as always, providing nourishment to the plants.

"That's enough for today." Marluxia said, after a lengthy discussion on how patience was necessary in life, demonstrating his point by comparing it to the plants in his garden.

"Remember what I've said here, young one." The Graceful Assassin said, taking a nearby watering can, and walking over to the nearest rose bush. "You're dismissed."

"Great. Now maybe Mansex won't yell at me for being late again."

Marluxia looked at him curiously. "'Mansex?'"

"Fun little anagram that Axel discovered. I've also got 'Bigrax' if Xigbar ever gets on your nerves."

"I see..." Marluxia looked as if he was giving very serious consideration to something. "Tell me, what do you think of the Superior?"

Xyran shrugged. "Honestly, he really gets on my nerves sometimes. His 'high and mighty' attitude and constant reminders on our nonexistence. We get it already, we don't exist; moving on..."

Marluxia turned back to his rose bush, and carefully added some fresh water. "Did you ever wish that this Organization could have a new command structure?"

Again, he shrugged. "Sometimes."

"What if I told you that I could make it happen?" The older Nobody asked, not turning away from his roses.

Xyran stared at him for a moment, not entirely comprehending what he had just been asked. It only seemed to click into place when Marluxia put down his watering can, and walked over to the nearest sakura tree.

"You're not serious. This is some kind of joke."

"I have rarely been more serious, apprentice." Marluxia replied casually, plucking one of the blossoms from a low branch of the tree, and holding it close to his face. "Xemnas's days as leader are now numbered. I'll see to it that this Organization really gets some work done."

"I really can't believe what I'm hearing." Xyran half-smiled. "This is a loyalty test, right?"

Marluxia chuckled. "I'll have to remember that for future members. But no, this isn't a test. As I said, I've rarely been more serious."

"Why do you want to overthrow Xemnas?"

"Well, likely it won't be just Xemnas." Marluxia said. "The other five who joined with him will likely side with him, and have to be destroyed, as well... Though I believe that they know a bit about treachery themselves, I doubt they'll tolerate it from the likes of me."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"Have you seen any significant progress on our Kingdom Hearts as of late, Xyran?" He asked casually, still not looking directly at him. The sakura blossom he had been holding vanished, and he walked over to another rose bush. "It's tiny."

"You know Xemnas's plan, though." Xyran answered. "We just need to wait for the Keyblade to choose its proper master. Once that happens-"

"When?" Marluxia interrupted, at last looking him in the face. "The Keyblade is an unpredictable thing. It could be years before the Keyblade Master is finally in action. Decades. Do you want to wait that long to get your heart back?"

Xyran's silence was the only answer he needed.

"That's what I thought." Marluxia said, turning his back to him, and walking to another sakura tree. "I have a new plan to gather hearts, but Xemnas remains too set in his ways. If you were to join us, we could- AUGH!"

When the traitorous Nobody turned his back, Xyran had summoned his spear. There was a reason it was called 'Edge of the Storm.' Taking careful aim, he fired a bolt of concentrated electricity at Marluxia's 'nether-regions.'

He pitched forward into a tree, and held on tightly to it as Xyran turned and paced quickly from the garden. But he didn't notice the pink flower petals dropping from his body, and vanishing shortly after touching the ground.

!

"You are late, apprentice." Xemnas said, several minutes later.

"Sorry Manse- Superior!" Xyran quickly caught himself. "I was held up."

The two of them stood alone on the Alter of Naught, directly under the diminutive Kingdom Hearts moon. Xemnas had been looking up into the moon as he often did, when Xyran had arrived from the garden.

He turned to face him. "And may I ask how you were held up?"

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you..." He said with a shrug. He didn't expect for this action to bring a flower petal from his ear. It drifted down to the ground, and vanished.

"How did I do that?" Xyran said, starting. Another few petals fell from his body.

Xemnas looked at him curiously. A gleam had entered his amber eyes. "What have you been doing differently lately, Xyran?"

He racked his brain for a few seconds, before he realized. "Um... I sort of... zapped Marluxia."

Xemnas arched an eyebrow. "And why exactly did you zap Marluxia?"

"Well, that's sort of the part you probably wouldn't believe if I told you."

"You'd be surprised," Xemnas said, leaning toward him, "At exactly how much I can believe."

"Okay... Marluxia is staging a coup against you and the other senior members."

This statement was greeted by a moment of complete silence. "I hope that you're telling me the truth, apprentice."

"I swear on my nonexistent life, Superior."

Xemnas looked him in the eye for another long, hard moment. Xyran felt like he was on an operating table, looking at a doctor who was seriously considering putting him down. Without totally thinking, he edged away from Xemnas slightly.

Finally, after several agonizing seconds, Xemnas closed his eyes and turned away, walking to the edge of the alter. "And Marluxia told you this?"

"Yes. And there might be others. He used the word 'us.' He said that your plan for building Kingdom Hearts was too slow." He suddenly realized that he may have crossed a line and made things personal.

But Xemnas seemed not to care. "I'm aware of what he thinks of my plan. He's told me of his own before, but he fails to realize how flawed it is. He refused to listen to reason, though." He was silent for a moment longer. "This is surprising, but not totally unexpected."

"It's not?"

"Remind me to tell you of Marluxia's past life, sometime, Xyran. You will understand."

"Alright... Well, what will you do about it?"

"That needn't concern you." Xemnas said, turning around. "They will be dealt with, in time. For now, I need you to ensure that he doesn't know you've told me any of this."

"Yes, Superior." Xyran bowed slightly, more flower petals fell from him. He let out a grunt of frustration, and messed up his hair. More and more petals dropped from his spiked blonde hair. "What is with these things?"

"Show me your weapon." Xemnas said.

"Um... What?"

"Your spear. Summon it."

He did as ordered. Edge of the storm appeared in his hand, and he held it out in front of him in plain sight for Xemnas to examine. Nothing happened for a moment, but then it transformed, taking on the shape of Marluxia's infamous scythe.

Xyran quickly dropped it. The moment it hit the ground, it reverted back to its original form of a spear.

"I've suspected this." Xemnas said, his lips beginning to curl into a smile of quiet satisfaction. "Your talents... They are linked to your weapon."

"What's happening to me?"

"Upon contact with a person, I suspect that your spear retains the qualities unique to them. In this case, the charged particles that connected with Marluxia's body bounced back to the spear, and flowed through it into you. This would allow you access to that scythe, and the flower petals."

"Okay... So I have all of Marluxia's powers now?"

"Yes." Xemnas thought hard for a moment. "And this could work very well toward expanding our goals..." His eyes flickered briefly to Kingdom Hearts. "I want you to repeat what you did to Marluxia to the rest of the Organization. Dismissed."

"The rest of the Organization wasn't exactly pleased to learn that I was going to copy all of them from then on, but they wouldn't really argue with Xemnas's orders if they valued their lives. My training got more and more intense as they taught me to use their powers properly."

"But, then things got complicated."

Xemnas, Saix, Xaldin, Zexion, and Luxord (heads of the Organization) were all seated in their thrones in Where Nothing Gathers.

"Are you certain he's up to the task, Superior?" Zexion asked. "He's very skilled, even I'll give him that, but we've been monitoring the boy's activity..."

"I'm inclined to agree with Zexion here, Xemnas." Luxord agreed. "Remember what happened to the hunter at Deep Jungle. This one shouldn't be taken lightly."

"I am aware of the boy's skill, Luxord, Zexion." Xemnas said. "But I believe that Xyran will prove competent enough."

The aforementioned Nobody entered via a corridor of Darkness right after Xemnas finished talking. "You called for me, bosses?"

"We have a mission for you." Saix said.

"One from which you may not return." Xaldin added.

"Ooh, life-threatening. I like it!" Xyran said, grinning. "What do I do?"

"As I announced weeks ago, the Keyblade has chosen its master, at long last." Xemnas said. "Zexion?"

A life-sized image of a boy of fourteen appeared in front of Xyran. He had brown, spiky hair, and blue eyes. He was about a head shorter than Xyran. In his hand was a silver and gold Keyblade.

"This is the guy?" Xyran said, in apparent disbelief.

"Make no mistake, he's much more powerful than he looks." Zexion said warningly. "He's already destroyed more than his fair share of Heartless across a handful of worlds."

"Thanks to this boy, Sora," Xaldin said, "Kingdom Hearts is growing larger all the time. But it's not enough."

"We'd like to speed the process along a tad." Luxord said. "This is where you come in, lad."

"You'll find him on the desert world of Agrabah." Xemnas said. "Find him. Shadow him. Copy him. Kill him."

Silence greeted this statement. "You want me to kill him? I thought we needed him alive to extract our hearts?"

"We don't need him." Saix said. "Merely the Keyblade's power. Once you can summon it yourself, we will no longer need Sora."

"He is a threat." Xaldin continued. "At some point in the future, he could work at cross-purposes to us. Things will flow much more smoothly with our plans riding on an ally, rather than an enemy."

"You are to leave immediately." Xemnas ordered. "Even now, the Keyblade Master is en route to Agrabah. Confront him, and see that he doesn't survive."

With just a hint of reluctance on his face and in his voice, Xyran said, "It will be done, Superior."

"Yes. They ordered me to get the Keybearer. Can you imagine how things would have turned out if I had listened to them?"

The blazing Agrabah sun pounded down on Xyran as he sprinted along the rooftops of the city. His hood was up, obscuring his face from any citizen that might decide to look up and see him on the roofs.

He had no actual idea of where he was going, so he had just chosen to start his search for Sora near the huge palace that was visible from miles away. The Keybearer wasn't there, but in the courtyard were two equally interesting figures.

The first was easily recognizable. It was a tall woman with greenish-grey skin and horns. She was garbed completely in black and violet, and carrying a wooden staff topped with a green orb. Maleficent: The self-proclaimed 'Mistress of All Evil.'

Next to her was an Arab man of equal height. He had glinting, dark eyes and a twisted little black beard. He was garbed in regal robes of black and deep red, and wearing a tall hat with a blood-red ruby inset in it. He clutched a bronze staff in his hand that resembled a cobra with ruby eyes. A red parrot was perched on his shoulder.

"Well, if the princess is that important," Jafar was saying, "We'll find her."

He turned slightly as a handful of Bandit Heartless appeared behind him. "Find Jasmine, and bring her to me at once." He ordered them.

They rushed off into the city, led by the parrot, Iago. Jafar walked slowly after them.

"Don't steep yourself in Darkness too long." Maleficent warned as he departed. "The Heartless consume the careless."

Jafar laughed a little. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary." And then he was gone.

Xyran observed all of this from a nearby rooftop. For just a moment, Maleficent glanced up at the building where he stood. She might have seen him, but if she did, it didn't matter. It could possibly serve as a warning that the Organization was watching her. So just for fun, he gave her a little wave.

Moments after he left the building, he found –to his mixed relief and regret- his target.

Sora, as well as Donald, Goofy, and a woman that was apparently the missing Princess Jasmine, were in one of the numerous back alleys one could stumble across in Agrabah.

Unseen by the four below, Xyran observed Sora closely. The way he seemed to take immediately to the princess was almost touching. He appeared even younger than he had when Zexion had shown him his picture. He smiled a lot, and acted as if the fact that the city was infested with Heartless was no big problem. He actually promised to help with the situation.

This mission keeps getting harder.

He could have struck then; taken Sora's powers and his life with one quick blow before any of them even realized that he was there. But he didn't, and he didn't quite know why.

The straw that broke the camel's back came in the form of Jafar. He suddenly appeared on the rooftop opposite Xyran's, though he didn't bother to hide his presence, as he did.

"Jasmine." He said, feigning concern. "Allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess. These little rats won't do, you see."

"Jasmine, run!" Sora exclaimed (in a surprisingly childish-sounding voice), summoning the Kingdom Key to his hand. It glistened for a moment in the harsh sunlight. On either side of him, Donald and Goofy brandished their own weapons, as Jasmine made her hurried escape.

But now, Jafar's eyes were fixed on Sora. "Ah... The boy who holds the key."

About twenty Heartless (most of them Bandits) appeared in the alley, and immediately rushed at the Keybearer as Jafar walked calmly away after Jasmine.

The three below defeated the Heartless with surprising ease, and Xyran could tell why. They worked together as a single integrated team; Compensating for each other's weaknesses, and adding to their respective strengths. It was beautiful to see.

Xyran probably could have leapt upon him them, while he and his allies were distracted, and he still didn't move. He was touched -as much as a Nobody could be touched- by this kid. He was risking his life to save the beings of a world he had never known, and he had still retained a trace of the old innocent kid he had probably once been.

How am I supposed to kill this guy now?

!

"You can guess what happened next. I quit. I abandoned my mission, and let Sora go about his merry way. Though, as you know, the Organization didn't take kindly to traitors, so I ran."

"I ran around to a few worlds, dogged by the Organization at every turn, until I finally settled down for a while on a small world they didn't seem to know about."

Once again, Xyran's gaze had turned back to the dragon's-head medallion in his palm. Cossex now noted that his hand was trembling slightly.

"They found me. Xemnas sent Marluxia and Larxene after me to do whatever they wanted. They offered me one more chance to join up with them. I refused, and they locked me up in Castle Oblivion. I was stuck in there before you and Serndask found me."

"But," Cossex interjected, "You had their powers, and those of the rest of the Organization. How did they capture you?"

"I never said they captured me." Xyran said, still looking into his medallion. "I had to surrender."

"Why?"

He didn't answer right away. And for a long time, it didn't seem as if she'd get a response at all. He lowered his head as if in sadness, and touched the medallion gently to his forehead. "They... made a threat."

"Toward you?"

"No."

Cossex was about to ask what he meant, when he tucked the medallion securely back into his jacket pocket. "I'd rather not tell you that. Not yet, anyway."

"I understand." She nodded, patting him on the shoulder in comradely fashion. "I believe you did the right thing, Xyran." After a moment where she ensured that nobody was around to hear her, she added, "Just as you did the right thing in saving the Resistance members."

"I'm glad you think so, because Serndask will probably disagree." Xyran muttered. "He's probably had the same idea that Xemnas did, and wants me to copy Sora, or that King, or one of the other Keybearers... And this time, I can't just run away."

For a moment, Cossex remembered what Serndask had said when Xyran had first been awoken. 'Join me, or your pretty little friend dies a painful death.'

She had a vague idea of what that had meant. "You met a girl."

He nodded mutely.

"Marluxia and Larxene. They threatened her, didn't they? And Serndask is doing it again."

Again, he nodded. "And I won't let anything happen to her... If helping the Brotherhood means that she stays safe, than so be it."

Cossex's face was the picture of sympathy, and she gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. The both of them were quiet for another few seconds. "You're smart. You're resourceful. And you're determined. You'll figure something out."

He chuckled. "You forgot brave, handsome, and humble."

She hit him on the back of the head, but she was smiling.

!

There we go! It's fun writing the Organization. I should do them more often. Anyway, hope that you liked it, and the next world arc starts soon!

Leave a review, please!