Chapter Thirty Six: Plan

Secret Report: Larxene IV

It's been a long week. A long aggravating week.

But we finally have leverage over a keyblade wielder. Two of them, even! Who knew that little rucksack and witch would prove so useful. Or that they'd gift wrap us strings to make themselves dance to our tune!

Now we just need to set up the right motivation…

…and get a little extra kick.

As the door shut behind them, Marluxia crossed the room to face Naminé. "I trust I don't need to explain why we wish to see tangible results soon."

"No, Marluxia." Lexaeus and Vexen's deaths were more than enough reason to want to move their plans up. Plans Naminé knew she'd dread facing, even with her newfound strength. Her eyes weren't downcast, but neither could she bring herself to look Marluxia in the face.

Yet she could still see Marluxia holding out a hand as he elaborated, "I wish to confirm your abilities in tomorrow's mission with my own eyes. No assistance from others." With a small smile, Marluxia walked closer to Naminé. "I expect the same exemplary performance you have shown thus far."

Blinking, Naminé was able to muster a nod as she held her ground. "I…I'm happy to hear you're satisfied."

Chuckling, Marluxia folded his hands behind his back. "Don't sound so surprised. You have been able to fight Larxene to a standstill within a few days of obtaining your keyblade." Closing his eyes with a smirk, Marluxia added, "No doubt working out some animosity."

Clenching her fist to try and stop them from shaking, Naminé defended herself, "Larxene challenged me. I wasn't looking to get even." But try as she might, there was still a tension in her voice. A hint that even if she wasn't looking for it, she did enjoy fighting back against Larxene's barbs.

Marluxia held up a hand as he shook his head. "I am well aware of her grudge against you, as well as her rather brutal enforcement. I admit, Larxene goes too far in her discipline at times." Opening his eyes, Marluxia gently put a hand on Naminé's shoulder. "So to repair the damaged goodwill between us, I will be handling your review from now on rather than her."

Naminé managed a level yet terse, "I understand, Marluxia." For as light a touch as she felt, it weighed her down so much she could hardly move. Even with Marluxia's conciliatory overtones, Naminé couldn't forget how vicious he was in forcing her to follow the original plan.

She couldn't help a start as Marluxia gave a pat on the shoulder and pulled away. "Relax. Just continue to do as well as you have, and you may succeed."

It was the closest that Marluxia had ever come to complimenting her. After weeks of orders and punishment. Naminé knew that any sort of kindness on Marluxia's end was calculated.

Yet some tiny part of her couldn't help but enjoy that scrap of respect.

If it wasn't for Roxas' genuine kindness and care, she would be frighteningly willing to accept it.

At least with that wariness, she wasn't quite as surprised when Marluxia continued on."There is one more matter." A catch. There was always some kind of catch with their missions. Naminé braced herself as Marluxia narrowed his eyes.

"Until our affairs in Castle Oblivion are in order…

And yet the words Marluxia said next still caught her off guard and left her with a sinking feeling in her chest.

Just as they no doubt would for Roxas when he heard...

"We can't let you and Naminé see each other anymore."

Everything Larxene said up to this point Roxas could expect and live with. A solo mission? Fine. Larxene watching him? No problem, if Naminé could face her so could he.

But the idea of being separated was enough to get Roxas to step forward and protest, "Why? We've worked better together!"

Larxene pointed her finger directly in his face as she shot back, "Because we don't want to keep our keyblade wielders in one spot for Ansem to take down like he did to our science department." Even as Roxas glared at her, Larxene waved him off. "This was something we were thinking over. Ansem's attack just moved it up."

"Right." Roxas muttered as he clenched his fists and closed his eyes. Of course they were planning something like this. Ever since he'd come to this castle, it'd been nothing but higher expectations from Marluxia and Larxene. More pressure for results, and making things harder to try and squeeze something out of him and Naminé. The threat of Ansem just gave them an excuse.

A hand lifting his chin up got Roxas to open his eyes. But to Roxas' surprise, Larxene's smile lacked her traditional sneer as she lifted his gaze to hers. "Hey, chin up. Once this is over, you two can see each other again." Before he could swat her hand away, Larxene let go of Roxas. "And at the rate you're going, I'd say it won't be too long. You've come a long way from the rucksack learning magic."

Clenching his fists, Roxas grumbled, "I was figuring a lot of things out." Who he was, what he wanted, what the Organization was even about. Even now, Roxas felt like he was no closer, but what little he knew made him resent the Organization more every day.

Shaking her head with a smile, Larxene gestured to Roxas. "Well look at you now. You're a better conversationalist, and pretty handy with that keyblade. Credit where it's due, you had the right idea with giving you a chance to train you up."

It was the first time Roxas had heard anything close to sincerity from Larxene. But the worst part was that she was frighteningly close. A week ago, he might have thought he'd finally managed to impress her. But a week in Castle Oblivion had taught Roxas well that she had her own agenda in mind.

But right now, he had to play along. Roxas looked Larxene in the eyes and replied. "Well, I'll show you just what I've learned tomorrow."

Clasping her hands together, Larxene chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure. Do that, and there's just one more thing you'd need before taking on Ansem."

Roxas raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. "One more thing?"

Larxene turned to the door and waved him off. "We'll get to it after I finish the assessment tomorrow. Just get some rest for now."

As she walked away, Roxas stood there. Numb. Lost. Unsure. Soon after, he ran out of the room and down the hall.

He knew the way all too well. Maybe she was still there. Maybe they hadn't moved her yet. Maybe he still had a chance to say goodbye.

But as he opened the door and saw the empty chair, no notepads or crayons in sight, Roxas knew he was too late. Naminé was gone, and he had a feeling Marluxia and Larxene hid her well. Roxas walked over to the white furniture and slowly rested a hand on the back. Yet the cold material could not soothe the horrible sensation inside him now.

And Halloween Town had taught Roxas what was inside him now.

Fear.

And once again the questions he pondered before came back with a vengeance. What if he lost Naminé? What if Ansem got her? What if he never saw her…

Roxas screwed his eyes shut and reached into his pocket. The feeling of Naminé's charm helped him to relax. What they had wasn't nothing. It was real. Something to believe in.

Roxas just hoped it and their keyblades would be enough.

Axel rubbed his forehead. Zexion and he managed to clean up the lab and hook up some of the detection equipment. Though tonight Zexion hardly seemed interested in using it. Losing Vexen and Lexaeus couldn't have helped his motivation.

It was like a sick joke. The two of them meeting some unfortunate end would help clear the way for Axel and Saïx after Marluxia and Larxene were dealt with. But he'd rubbed elbows with Zexion enough this past week that he'd considered letting them walk. At least Zexion's surly silence in the lab wasn't on Axel's conscience, for what little comfort that was.

As he walked down the corridor to clear his head, Axel came upon the other pair of headaches he had to handle this mission. Though surprisingly enough the two seemed to be in a good mood as they chatted in the corridor. Larxene was even smiling in a more relaxed way. "In any case, we've got our setup."

Marluxia nodded and folded his hands behind his back. "With any luck, the assessment tomorrow will go successfully for at least one of them. If we can confirm their strength, we'll be able to put our real proposal on the table."

Axel raised an eyebrow as he approached and asked, "Any chance you'd be willing to share said proposal, or what you two told Roxas and Naminé?"

Larxene glanced at Axel before she shrugged. "We just told them that we'll be evaluating them personally tomorrow, and that we're splitting up our keyblade wielders." Smirking, she turned to him and patted his shoulder. "So no need for you to babysit anymore."

Axel sighed as he leaned his head back. "Kind of a shame. I've gotten used to it this past week." For once, his tone wasn't quite as joking. Working with Roxas and Naminé was unlike anything he'd done before in the Organization. Carefully controlled missions with other members that he could tolerate if he was lucky. Even with the bumps in the road the four of them ran into, Axel could honestly say he had enjoyed being a part of Roxas and Naminé 's training.

A light slap to the shoulder from Larxene interrupted his musing. "All the more reason for you to stop! Keep it up and you'll be signing adoption papers."

Rolling his eyes, Axel pushed her hand away. "Hey, someone's got to look after them. And you've made it clear you're not interested."

Clearing his throat, Marluxia looked to Axel more pointedly. "I'm sure you're not here for small talk."

Right, there was one other problem that Axel had to tackle. Crossing his arms, he asked, "What do we do about Zexion in the long term? He's the only one not in our conspiracy."

Larxene tapped her cheek once, twice, before clicking her tongue and shaking her head. "As much as I really want to squash that bookworm, someone needs to pick up what's left of our egghead's work and track Ansem."

Chuckling, Marluxia walked closer to Axel. "You sound almost hesitant to get rid of him, Axel."

Holding up his hands, Axel stood his ground. "Well, Zexion's started to trust me, and having someone as smart as him around would give us a leg up. Since I know him best out of the three of us, I should be the one to handle him."

"You mean to recruit him," Marluxia deduced as he narrowed his eyes. "It is true that having a scientist in our group would go a long way once we have established our rule over the Organization. But Zexion is still one of the founding members. He may still hold loyalty to Xemnas." Marluxia closed his eyes and looked away from Axel and Larxene, the latter pursing her lips as she balled her hands into fists. But soon enough, Marluxia broke the silence."We shall make a decision once Ansem is dealt with. Until then, keep him in the dark." With that, he walked away from them.

Larxene crossed her arms and smirked. "Right, we don't need to handle onboarding or offboarding when this situation is enough of a mess."

Axel grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Trust me. I've got him under control."

Larxene rolled her eyes with a shrug as she muttered, "If you say so." And with that she walked in the direction Marluxia had left in.

Axel kept up his smile even when they were out of view. Waking back to his room, he was able to maintain his composure and pose. Stepping inside, Axel locked the door and stood for a moment.

He ran a hand through his long red hair. Smile unsteady as he made his way to his chair next to the desk. As he began to slump in his seat, Axel allowed himself a tired sigh. He had nothing under control in this castle. Ever since Roxas was brought onboard, the situation had been turned on its head more than Axel could keep track of.

Right now, he couldn't see a clear way out. Everything seemed to be riding on Roxas and Naminé, and he wouldn't be able to help either of them. The best he could do was get Zexion whatever he needed to find Ansem.

Axel chuckled. Barely a week ago, and he probably would have seen tomorrow as a time to take it easy. Now? He could hardly think of resting till Ansem was handled and Roxas and Naminé were out of Marluxia and Larxene's hands.

But tonight, his body was tired. All he could do was rest.

Naminé stared at the empty page, crayon in hand.

Shaking her head, she set the color in her hand down and looked through the box for another. She thumbed through yellow, blue, gray, and black. But no matter which one she looked at, she couldn't decide on one to start drawing with. Sighing, she set the box aside and looked at the last page of the notebook. Roxas and her fighting alongside each other with keyblades in hand.

At the very least, she had the luxury of being able to take her notebooks and crayons with her when Marluxia brought her to a new room. But with her stomach still tied up in knots at the thought of tomorrow, the only comfort she had was revisiting these pastel recollections. Roxas wouldn't be waiting for her at the end of the day.

Flipping the page, she saw the two of them holding a golden star. The charm she had given him that became real from their shared wish. For a moment, she let her hand touch the yellow mark on the page. All she could do now was hold onto the hope that magic had shown her. Magic that had let their shared wish make something real.

Maybe with that magic and their keyblades, the two of them could make that wish come true.