Fanfiction ► Stained Glass [Roxas FanFic]

[Angel Shards]

Hey all, sorry I hadn't made updates. I am trying to get back on track, really I am. Just lazy/writer-s block. etc.... -.-''

Anyways, posting my fic back up, as it was inactive and was taken down. I apologize in advcance for the amount of posts I ama bout to make. I hope it is not considered spam, just trying to get my chapters back up

Copyrights: All characters, settings, weaponry, and magic in this story belong to Square-Enix.

Stained Glass
Amy Nazarewich

Chapter 1: A Most Unnatural Birth​

I awoke in the dark, gasping for breath. A cold sweat dripped off every inch of my naked body. I was gasping for my breath. The place where I was in –I think it was a room of some sort- was an endless abyss of darkness, but I could feel the cold floor below me. Where was I? How did I get here? These and an assortment of a million others questions raced through my foggy mind as I strained to remember anything that might come to mind before I opened my eyes to the darkness.

There was nothing.

I gasped for breath.

Swallowing hard, I picked myself up, now kneeling upon the cold, hard ground that was below me. My straining eyes sought for any light in the pitch-dark room. There wasn’t any. A cold shudder of dread ran through me. Was I… dead? No. No, I couldn’t be! I was alive, I was… Empty. Yes. Empty. Though I strongly believed that I was not deceased –to the point of near hysterics- I could not ignore that empty feeling inside of me. What was it? What was I missing? Oh! The questions hurt my head, and he curled back towards the ground, feeling the slow pull of insanity begin to grip me.

But just as the grip of madness began to start its work on me a door opened from the overwhelming darkness and light spilled into the room, chasing away all the shadows and all the dread; all the insanity that threatened to fill my very being. As the door opened fully into the room I blinked in the light of the outside. It was so bright –so powerful- that it was hard to keep focus. And then I realized, as the light filled the once dark room, that I was naked and I became ashamed. Desperately, I tried to hide my indecent presence from whoever it was that opened the door. Then suddenly I felt what could be guessed as robes, or a heavy blanket, draped around my shoulders and drawn down to cover me.

“Do not be afraid,” came a deep, commanding voice as two pairs of unknown hands helped me to my feet. “You are amongst kin.”

Blinking past the brightness, my eyes now slowly adjusting to the light, I was now able to make out a dark, hooded figure silhouetted against the light. I could see nothing, save for a smile-less mouth below his hood. Though his deep voice had held kindness, I knew there was no love within it. If that wasn’t enough to dampen my already low spirits, his use of the word ‘kin’ brought me slightly lower. It gave the impression that I was simply a person like himself, and whoever else dwelt within these walls; there was no platonic love in this structure.

“Please!” I gasped, as the pair of unknown hands led me towards the door and passed the enigma who stood aside from it, allowing us to pass. “Where am I? Why am I here?”

“All in good time, Roxas,” the man said. Roxas. Somehow, though I hadn’t heard of it before, I recognized the name to be my own. Silenced, I stared dumbly up at the man who called me name. “Right now you require rest. Birth is a stressful, overwhelming event. Especially a birth as significant as yours.”

“I don’t under- “

“All in good time. All I good time…”

The remnants of the enigma’s dream-like voice echoed within my head even after he disappeared silently from sight. I had started forward after this, but then the sensation of falling overwhelmed me and I could feel myself sliding forward. If it were not for the hands that held on to me so steadily, I would have fallen on my face. I wanted to thank them, but my vision clouded and my mind became as black as that room.

†††

I awoke again, this time in a white room. My eyes stung when they opened, overwhelmed by the brightness that spilled into them. With a jolt, I sat up straight and gasped for my breath. Trying to steady my breathing, I gazed about the angelic room. Every inch of it was white, from the marbled floors, to the ceramic walls and glass pillars. A glass table on the opposite side of the room, decorated with a vase of white-roses was colourless as well. Even the bed I noted, looking down to see what I lay upon, was completely white. Where was I moved to now, and for how much longer would I be alone with only my thoughts to drive me back to the brink of insanity?

And that’s when I noticed the only thing that was out of place in this room was me. Having to make a double take I gazed at my body, which was no loner naked but decked out in completely black attire. It must have been when I was asleep, but I was now wearing a long, heavy leather trench coat that must have been cut to just above my ankles. It was warm and fitting, but not too terribly tight. Underneath this I was wearing a pear of dark, loose-fitting pants, which were, covered to just above my knee by a pair of thick, strong boots. Marveling at my outfit, it looked like I was part of some type of organization.

“Do you like them?” came a smooth voice from the corner. Twisting my head around to look at who was there, I gazed at the corner of the room to my left and saw a man standing there, with his arms folded across his chest as he lay nonchalantly against the ceramic wall. By the looks of him, I guessed his age to be about in his early twenties. A wild, mane of red-hair jutted out from his head, which made him look like a lion. His eyes, so keen and focused with two triangular tattoos below them, looked even more like the features of a feline. As I surveyed this man from head to toe I realized he was dressed in the same garb I was, which lead me to believe that perhaps I really was part of some organization.

When I didn’t answer, the red-haired man pushed himself off from the wall and sauntered towards me. “No ‘thank you’? Isn’t it better than what you had before?” Here, I could feel the temperature rise in my face, and I knew I had been blushing with furious embarrassment, for the cat-like man smiled at this jeer. To my surprise, however, he waved it off. “Don’t sweat it, kid. You weren’t the only one in that position, if memory does serve me right.

“My name is Axel.”

“Umm… hi,” I said uncertainly, finding my voice. I knew it was rude, but I couldn’t help but gawk at this man who stood before me, staring at me with his hypnotic aquamarine eyes. “I-I’m Roxas,” I was finally able to stammer.

“Ah, yes. ‘The Discovered Key’.”

Now I was confused.

“Excuse me?”

“That’s who you are. Roxas: The Discovered Key.” It sounded so simple.

My mind shut down right then. I didn’t even know how to respond to this. It made no sense, no matter how I tried to work it out. I just couldn’t find any logical explanation as to what it meant, or how they knew my name, or how I even got here in the first place!

“I’m sorry,” I said uncertainly, rising from the bed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even know where I am or why I’m here…” I bit my lip, feeling defeated. “What is going on?”

“Those are all very good questions! And, seeing as no one has even bothered to check up on the newest addition to our ‘Happy Family of Nobodies’ I guess it’s my job to tell you.”

Nobodies? What the hell was that supposed to mean? However, I stopped myself from asking Axel the meaning of that word, guessing he would hopefully tell me during his explanation of my being here. I sat back down upon the bed. He crossed the centre of the room, stopping just in front of the bed not even looking at me. As patiently as I could, I waited for him to begin.

“You’re here, simply because you’re one of us: a Nobody.”

I waited for him to continue. He turned around to face me, a strange smile on his face. Nothing. Was that it!?

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded, rolling my hands into tight, angry fists on the bed. “What do you mean I’m a Nobody?”

“Ha ha, easy there, killer,” the fiery-haired man waved his hands at me. I could tell he was really enjoying this. “You know, you really need to lighten up, neh?

“What I mean is that you are non-existent; you aren’t supposed to exist,” this he offered as a simple explanation. I only stared at him blankly. “You don’t have a Heart.”

“What?”

He was becoming a little frustrated with my lack of comprehension. Sighing forcefully, he’d grabbed the side of his head, pulling at his mane-like hair. So what? I woke up in this strange place, with no memory where the hell I was before all of this. I deserved to milk all the knowledge I could from this bozo.

“Okay! Look; you don’t have Heart. There is nothing beating inside your chest. You. Are. Empty!” he said each word loudly and clearly. “Thus the term Nobody. You are not supposed to exist because you are a mere shell of the person you once were. Non-Existent.”

“That’s not true!” I growled at him, jumping off the bed in anger. My body shook and I clenched my fists even tighter. It couldn’t be true! How was it possible? What the enigma had just said made absolutely no sense. But still there was that nagging voice in my head suggesting that what he said could very well be true.

“I hate the be the bearer of bad news, kid,” he laughed, looking at me in mild amusement, “but the fact is you are a Nobody, just like us.”

Like us?

“You still don’t believe me, do you? You knew from the moment you awoke that something was different about you. You felt empty inside. Isn’t that proof enough that you have no Heart?”

Angrily, I averted my eyes from the fiery-haired man. I didn’t want to believe him. However, I could not fight the painful truth of what he’d just said. When I had awoken I had felt that something was amiss, and though I could place it then I could definitely tell what that missing feeling was: I had no Heart beating inside my chest.

“How?” I asked defeated, looking back up to Axel helplessly. “How did this happen?”

“That,” he said knowingly, crossing towards the door, “is something that you will have to find out on your own.” He stopped just before the white door, opening it and standing aside. “Come on. They’re dying to meet you.”

 

[Angel Shards]

Copyrights: All characters, settings, weaponry, and magic in this story belong to Square-Enix.

Chapter 2: The Thirteenth Order​

The interior of the building was large and gave an air of foreboding. Each hallway was long and the ceiling stretched high. There also seemed to be absolutely no shadows in any of the corners of the walls, or even below the glass tables. Much like the room I had been housed in, much of the inside was white: the floors, the walls, and some of the items that were fashioned to decorate the place and give it a bit of life. However, here and there, there were a few other colours introduced in order to “spice” the place up. Pillars that stretched at least twenty, or more, feet towards the ceiling were a stone grey, and there were also splashes of ice blue, square patterns on the marbled floors. Overall, the total appearance wasn’t one that was meant to be inviting. Though, it was mystifying and somewhat intriguing. Who was this group of people that dwelt within these walls and what was their purpose?

Led from my room –now, I’m assuming it was my room- the journey to meet these people, who I believed had brought me here, was a silent one. The tapping of our feet upon the marble floor could be heard echoing only briefly off the walls as I followed Axel down the long hallway. I didn’t say a word to him and he didn’t try to make conversation with me. This made me feel completely and utterly alone. I once again felt as though I was trapped; a prisoner of war. It was then I knew that I would never leave this place.

An eternity of wandering down the long hallways and up white, marble stairs finally led us to the end of a corridor. The fiery-haired enigma halted before a set of large, heavy looking doors before he turned to face me for the first time since we’d left the room. “Well,” he said unenthusiastically, “here we are. You ready, kid?”

Frowning, I gazed up and down the white, ominous doors. I wasn’t sure exactly what I should be ready for, but I nodded all the same and waited for Axel to open the doors. Grabbing hold of the iron handle, the man pulled the door open effortlessly and stood aside, allowing me to enter first. It was then that fear gripped my body; fear of the unknown. What was it that waited for me beyond those doors? Would there be some horrible test for me to pass, and if I failed it should I be killed? This was an organization, one that was never heard of before, and with good reason too probably. As these thoughts and fantasies ran through my head I stood rooted to the spot, just staring through the door into the unknown.

“Are you going in or what?” Axel snapped, bringing me back to reality. Shaken out of my thoughts, I glanced up quickly at the man, before forcing myself to step forward and through the door. If I was nervous before, I was intimidated now; in the centre of the large room was a circle of thirteen ceramic chairs with, what looked like at first glance, ten people sitting in them. Each person was decked out in the same black attire, I found without surprise. It was then that my earlier suspicion was confirmed: I was becoming part of an organization that I would not be able to back out of.

The door behind me shut with a dull thud as Axel entered the room, standing at my back. I didn’t acknowledge his presence; instead I surveyed the small group. Counting quickly, once again, I made note that there were ten people that occupied the thirteen chairs. The group looked to be male dominated with only one woman in their midst, and many of them looked to be in their near thirties and older. The only person who looked to be closer to my own age was a young man with messy, blue hair that covered the left portion of his young face. This would have lifted my spirits only slightly if he hadn’t appeared to look so unnerved by my presence. I recoiled inside myself, feeling unwelcome as ten pairs of cold eyes glanced my way. But there was no place for me to hide and certainly nowhere to run.

“Hey there, Roxas,” someone shattered the uncomfortable silence in addressing me. I looked up to see who spoke to me, and when my eyes rested on the owner of the voice I couldn’t help but stare in shock. Sitting at, what I had guessed, was the head of the circle was a man wearing an eye-patch over his hard, chiseled face that bore a long scar stretching across his left cheek, probably from battles he had in his earlier days. His one, yellow eye stared right at me with cold amusement and I had to cast my gaze away. This got a chuckle out of the elder man. “Well, come over here and have a sit, neh? Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?”

For a moment or two I didn’t move; too nervous to do anything. But feeling a gentle shove from Axel, still standing behind me, I started myself forward. I held my breath. I could feel all their eyes on me, watching every move that I made. I don’t know why, but they all made me so nervous. I was amongst a group of elite people and a part of me wanted to prove myself to them. Right now I was the outsider and I felt that I had to somehow prove my worthiness to them, in one way or another. Making my way past the chairs, I stiffly crossed the diameter of the circle towards the large, empty ceramic chair to the left of the scarred man. All the while, trying to ignore their glances, I kept my gaze upon that seat that seemed much higher than the rest. I didn’t think anything of it and when I reached it I prepared myself to sit on it.

“Not there!” one of the enigmas suddenly snapped. It was a man who looked like a snake. His voice was sandy and uneasily controlled. Startled, I leapt back and away from the seat. From behind me I could hear the cold, high-pitched laughter of the blonde-haired woman. I was too embarrassed to glance at her, so I continued to stare at the chair I had nearly sat in. I could feel my face flushing. “No one sits there,” he added quietly.

“Hey, take it easy on him,” I heard Axel say behind me. Tentatively, I turned to glance at the red-haired man as he sat down in his own seat between the man who resembled a snake, with blue hair and another young looking man with blonde hair that was cut short in the font, but kept long in the back. Though Axel’s voice was light, he starred at the enigma sharply.

Taken slightly aback, the blue-haired man seemed to relax. He turned his gold, yellow-moon eyes on me. “That is the Superior’s seat,” he said quietly, almost politely. “You may sit there.” He indicated to an empty chair to the left of the one reserved for the one he called the ‘Superior.’ That title stilled a lump in my throat. The name was metallic and severe; the Superior must have been a man who had great strength, swift, and cunning. From the reaction the scarred man had given me, upon sitting on his chair, an enigma that meant business and not to be taken lightly. I would have to be careful to stay out of his way.

Swallowing hard, I took a few nervous steps towards my own chair and sat down on it, seated beside the blonde-haired woman with the cold laugh. It wasn’t comfortable in the least that was for sure. It was hard and cold, only adding to my goose bumps. I had thought that leaning back against the tall back post of the chair would help to improve comfort, but it did little to help my posture. Though I felt extremely awkward in this position, as I gazed about the room I noted all the other members sat in the same manner, with their chests pushed out, their back tall. Eventually I would have to get used to sitting like this, so I decided I’d better start now.

“So I bet you’re wonderin’ why you’re here, huh?” the scarred man asked nonchalantly, after I was seated and somewhat comfortable. I said nothing so he continued. “We’re the Thirteenth Order; a group of elites whose purpose is to study and unlock the secrets of the Heart. You could say we’re Nobodies.”

“That is,” said the man with the quiet-voice, “we are beings who do not possess Hearts ourselves. We aren’t supposed to exist: the Non Existent Ones. We lost our Hearts, a long time ago, when we first began to conduct our experiments, but we were strong enough to exist the way we are now; mere shells of the people we once were. Although we are still curious as to the mysteries surrounding the Heart, our goal is to one day reclaim our lost Hearts from the place we’d discovered all Hearts to be born: Kingdom Heart.”

Kingdom Hearts.

For what felt like a good five minutes, though I’m sure it was only seconds, I sat in silence trying to comprehend all that the scarred man had told me. So I was a Nobody, just as Axel had said? I wasn’t supposed to exist. For that reason alone was why I was now a member of the organization called ‘The Thirteenth Order.’ A dizzying feeling descended upon me, and now more than ever before I felt at a complete loss. I wasn’t supposed to exist… I felt as though I was trapped in a strange nightmare, one that held me tightly in its iron-like grasp and would never let go. Over and over, I desperately told myself to wake up until I forced myself to face the awful truth: this was reality. I couldn’t catch my breath.

“This is a shock to you, I’m sure,” he continued, starring at me. I didn’t have to look up to know he was amused by my anxiety; I could hear it in his sandy voice. Beside me, I could feel the woman smiling in glee. She was enjoying this thoroughly, but I did not want to give her –or anyone else- that satisfaction. Trying to regain what composure I had left, I straightened up, glancing at each member quickly before returning my gaze at the man, who was indeed smiling with cold amusement in my direction.

“So,” I started meekly, “my Heart is trapped in… Kingdom Hearts?” It felt so strange to say.

“Well, not exactly. Your birth, compared to ours, was most unnatural.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am not of a position to give you that information.”

Now I was angry. “And why not?” I snapped, beginning to rise to my feet. However, I stopped myself in mid motion, seeing the warning glance from Axel. Gripping the arms of the chair I sat back down, staring intently at the demonic man. I wanted answers, but I doubted whether I would receive the ones I wanted to hear.

“You would do well to not speak out of turn, Roxas,” he said coolly in that controlled, quiet voice. His golden eyes narrowed in my direction, so that I once again felt small. “You are Number Thirteen and will not speak to I, Number Seven, in such a manner. Is that understood?” Put in my place I nodded forcefully.

“Be a good boy now, okay, Roxas?” came the jeer from the scarred man.

That demonic-looking man may have been Number Seven, but he definitely acted as though he was Number Two.

Once that was settled I was briefly introduced to each member of the Thirteenth Order in order of the highest-ranking number to the lowest. The scarred man, who was second in command, was Xigbar; able to control the power of Time he fought with laser guns. He had a strange accent when he spoke and it was sometimes hard for me to understand what he was said. Xaldin, a tall, broad man with long, black hair kept in thick braids controlled the power of Wind and wielded six spears. Beside him was a sallow-looking elder man with long, dirty-blonde hair. He had no emotion in his cold eyes. That was Vexen a man of science who wielded the power of Ice. Lexaeus was the name of a burly man beside Vexen. He had a hard, chiseled face with small, dark eyes; within him was the power of Earth. The young-looking enigma that had given me the cold glance when I’d entered the room was Zexion; his power was that of Shadow. Seventh was Saix, the man who resembled a snake. I felt a shiver run through me as I looked upon him. He was able to control the gravitational powers of the Moon. Then, of course, there was the fiery-haired enigma that was Axel. His features reminded me of a cat: he was cunning and sly, able to wield the power of Fire. Demyx used the element of Water and wielded a Sitar as his weapon of choice. Seated beside him sat an elder-looking man; his icy-blue eyes starred directly at me and he scratched his clean-cut chin as though he was studying my every move. His name was Luxord and I later found out he treated everything in life as a game. A mass of fluffy-brown hair belonged to Marluxia. There was an air about him that made me uneasy. I didn’t know what it was, but there was a gleam in his eyes that sought for power and domination of all. The twelfth, and only female, member of the organization was Larxene. Already I didn’t like her. She had a cold nature and found pleasure in tormenting others. Those were all the members of the Order except for the Superior and…

“And you, Roxas, are number Thirteenth. The Discovered Key. You are a very important member of our organization,” Saix said.

“I don’t understand.” Why was I such an important member of their group of elites? Other than the fact that I was a mere shell, just like them, there wasn’t anything incredibly special about me. As far as I knew I didn’t wield any weapon nor did I possess a special ability. What’s more, I had no idea why I was continuously referred to as the ‘Discovered Key.’

“Well, then perhaps this will allow you to understand a little bit better.”

Saix simple gaze Axel a curt nod and, begrudgingly taking his cue, the red-haired enigma stood up lazily. Puzzled, I watched as he sauntered in my direction until he stopped about five feet in front of me. What happened next greatly alarmed and frightened me. Extending his hands up and out to his sides, there was a clap like thunder and in seconds two large spiked wheels – Chakram- appeared in his gloved hands. Raising his head, he looked at me and I saw amusement flash in his aqua eyes. From what I could tell he4 was going to hurt me –or kill me- and he was going to thoroughly enjoy it. Frightened, I pushed myself up against the back of the white chair in a pathetic attempt to make myself smaller and maybe even disappear. Stepping towards me, the fiery man crossed his one hand over his chest and, taking another, swung downwards with the spikey-wheel. Time seemed to slow down, and it wasn’t due to Xigbar’s Time-bending ability. The instinct to live –to survive- awoke within me. In those moments before the Chakram hit me I felt a strange, warm sensation in the tips of my fingers and as I brought my hands up to block the attack something very strange happened. There was a bright flash of light and my hands grasped tightly around the handles of two large weapons, which I had crossed above me, blocking Axel’s Chakram. The metallic song of the weapons hitting sang throughout the room.

Grinning, the fiery-haired man took a step away from me, lowering his weapons to his sides. It was just a test –a rouse- to try and get me to make sense of my purpose within the organization. Attempting to get over my shock I lowered my dual-weapons to eye-level. They were very strange looking weapons for they both resembled overlarge keys. One was black as the night and looked cruel, a weapon born out of the Darkness. The other was the complete opposite: it was a white, angelic weapon that had beauty and promises tied to it. Each weapon was both, surprisingly, light and not a struggle to wield. As I gazed upon them in wonder I could hear the murmurs of my fellow enigmas around me.

“Now do you see, Roxas?” Xigbar asked.

“I see,” I started slowly. Clearly, I could see the weapons I held, but it still made no sense to me. “But I still don’t understand.”

“You’re not very smart, are ya’, sport?” Xigbar taunted.

One who knows nothing can understand nothing…

Those words echoed in my in head. I hadn’t heard them before, but they sounded so familiar, as though I had heard them once from a far-off memory…

Saix chuckled silently, closing his eyes and shaking his head. Boy, did I ever feel ignorant. “In time you will, Number Thirteen. In time you will. But for now, we have much work to do.”

 

[Angel Shards]

Copyrights: All characters, settings, weaponry, and magic in this story belong to Square-Enix.

Chapter 3: A Far-Off Memory​

“Why are you doing this?”

“For science,” Vexen said to me. I could hear a trace of excitement in his shrill voice. He was a man of science, and everything and anything that had to do with discovering a new property of the Heart, or existence, greatly aroused him.

I was lying on a cold, hard table in a relatively small, white room. Behind the table I lay upon was a large, high-tech machine. It had many buttons and other devices on it and a screen to read any data that was processed through it. Of course, it was beyond my comprehension, as I had never seen such a gadget in my existence, and when I had first beheld it my blood ran cold with dread. There were other machines in the room too, as well as all sorts of displays and unfinished experiments in jars on the tables. Dark, insect-like creatures were kept in glass jars filled with a murky liquid, and diagrams of the Heart were in a pile upon a metal table. There were drawings and hypothesis plastered on the white walls. Just glancing over them gave me chills. I knew now why I was here: Vexen was planning on using me as some sort of scientific experiment. To him, I was an object that should be kept in a test-tube. The realization of this both angered me and made me feel worthless, like one of those creatures kept in the jars.

“Just try to relax,” the elder man instructed coolly. Getting to work, he began to place chords on my forehead. They were cold and sticky so that the devices would not fall off me. Chords were also clamped down on my middle fingers so that any change in my body could be recorded as I reacted to whatever procedure I would endure. I inhaled deeply and let out a long, low breath as I tried to relax, all the while staring at the white ceiling above me. I didn’t know what to expect out of this little ‘expedition for science’ and once again it was the fear of the unknown that I had to try and push away from me. Trying to do as Vexen said I continued to breath in deeply.

“Now,” he said, standing beside his machine, “I am going to project some images into your mind. I will record your reactions. It is relatively harmless.” I didn’t like the way he said that. “The process will begin now. Close your eyes.”

Swallowing hard, I did as the enigma instructed me to do. There was the endless darkness that swam before me once my eyes were closed and I saw no images. Waiting for the experiment to begin, I frowned. What was the point of this experiment? What sort of images would I see and how were they relevant to my purpose within the organization? There was something each member of the Thirteenth Order knew about me, or who I once was, that I had no recollection of and they kept that knowledge away from me. I hated that. I had a right to know about who I was before this existence, but they would not grant me that due to higher orders, as Xigbar implied earlier.

Pop.

Suddenly I heard a crackling noise, as though Vexen’s machine was shorting out. However, I soon realized that the noise wasn’t coming from the machine behind me. It was coming from inside my head! The endless abyss was interrupted as waves of static electricity began to break and form in my mind’s eye. Crackle. Crackle. Pop. Between each break I caught quick glimpses of hazy pictures and I tensed each time they disappeared, replaced by the waves of static. Pop. Crackle. Eventually, as the routine of fuzzy-images and the electricity progressed, the pictures became steadily clearer and lasted longer. The first image was that of a small group of islands, silhouetted against a golden sunset. The waters around the islands were purple, and reflected the setting sun. Still, the image looked so far away and I felt myself squinting as I tried to get a clearer view of it. That place… it looked familiar… But the image began to grow fuzzy again and fade into static.

Crackle.

One island stood out from the rest. It wasn’t the largest one, but something about it caught my attention. The beaches of this landform were pure white sand, stretching around the outside of the island and into the crystal blue waters that surrounded it. A dock lay on the beach to hold the boats of the owners who visited here. The interior of the island was lush, filled with a tropical forest, which had many tall palm trees that stretched high into the air. Within the brush of tropical trees and plants I could make out a few wooden clubhouses and I recognized them as the ones in which children used for play. This picture that I saw was so nostalgic, but I couldn’t place why. Even though it wasn’t real I could smell the salt of the water and feel the cool, island breeze on my face as though I was right there standing on the beaches. Had I visited there in my previous existence? Before I could contemplate this any more the image began to fizz out of sight.

Crackle. Pop.

The scene switched to that of a stormy night. I felt myself gripping the table that I lay upon as the stormy winds blew violently across my face. The dark clouds churned overhead and lightning struck two times, the electricity rippling in the sky. From pools of liquid darkness on the white sand there materialized the small, insect-like creatures, which I’d seen in the jars. Their crooked antennas twitched nervously as they crawled about the beaches as though searching for something. Another feeling of familiarity gripped me. I felt as though I had lived through this very scene before, but was it merely a dream? Fizz. Once again the image changed so that I was on another part of the island. Standing right before me was a person with shoulder-length, silver hair. His back was facing me as he stared out over the dark waters. A glowing aura of Darkness could be seen around him, which made me feel very uneasy about him, but something deep within me wanted to reach out and save him from that Darkness which threatened to consume him. Pop! But just then that image disappeared, replaced by a horrifying scene that was nestled at the core of any nightmare. I gasped as a huge, black creature replaced the image of the boy. Its wild hair billowed about its face, and I could only see deviant, yellow eyes staring down at me. It came closer and closer towards me until…

Crackle. Pop!

Suddenly, a wave of images rapidly played before my mind’s eye. From what I could catch from the small clips, there was a dark city where two very strange creatures stood before me; one looked like a tall, gangly dog and the other was a duck. Pop. More Shadows slithered out from the darkness. They were everywhere! Fizz. That boy with the silver hair stood before me, raising his hands towards the sky. At first I hadn’t recognized him, for he was completely shadowed in Darkness. Crack. Fizz. Where the silver-haired boy once stood was now a fully-grown man with long, flowing white hair. He stared at me with his cold, yellow eyes. Crackle. Suddenly, the scene switched to a ray of light pouring onto the man who shielded himself from it. Pop. Crackle. All that was left was a large, angelic door with its great, white doors closed to me. Crackle. Crackle. Fizz. Pop. The entire scene began to play again, more rapidly this time. Once it was finished it started back to the beginning, continuing its cycle, slowly driving me to madness.

The images stopped so abruptly that I felt as though I had crashed within myself. The crackling noise of static electricity was replaced by a gentle hum, which tempted me with sleep. All around in my mind’s eye was an endless sea of white, nearly blinding me. I could not tell where it began or where it ended as I gazed at the surroundings. My attention was suddenly brought to a lone figure that stood with its back turned towards me. Once again, that nostalgic feeling nagged at me, forcing me to try and remember whom this person was. Though I drew a blank, I knew that this person was someone from my past. As I approached the still figure I noticed that the slim, fragile characteristics belonged to that of a young girl with short, red hair. As I got closer she began to turn slowly towards me and I stopped, holding my breath. Ping! Just as I saw the girl’s jaw line the scene switched so that all I saw was a close up of the lower portion of her fair face. The girl’s lips were that of a pale, rose red colour that was neither turned up in a smile, or down in a frown. Eventually her lips parted, but no sound came from her mouth. There was only the gentling ringing in the background. Furrowing my brows together, I concentrated on her lips as they moved, trying to form what she was saying. I could barely make out what she was silently speaking. S-O-R-

“What the hell are you doing?!”

All of a sudden the image was cut and my eyes snapped open to the place I last saw before the experiment started: Vexen’s laboratory. Behind me, I could hear the elder man scrambling to turn off his machine before he came to my side, hastily tearing the devices from my forehead and fingers. After he’d left my side, quickly putting all his tools back in order, I sat up to look for the source of the voice. To my surprise it was Axel! He stood in the corner of the room with his arms folded across his chest, his feline eyes glaring daggers at Vexen. By the look of his stance, and the tone of his voice, I could tell that the flame-wielding enigma was not too happy about what he had witnessed before he decided to put a stop to it.

“Axel, what are you doing intruding in my room?” the elder man shot back, shutting off his machine.

“I was sent to look for the kid. But that still doesn’t answer my question. What are you doing, Vikusen.”

Vexen babbled, but his words were inaudible.

“What was that?”

Pausing, Vexen glared up at Axel. I could tell he was a little flustered from his research being interrupted. “I was merely testing the boy’s reactions to images that were shown to him.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“You may scorn now, but this is important research, Akuseru. Time will tell. In order to fulfill the Superior’s plans we need to know all that we can about the Heart! He is the Discovered Key! With the boy we can understand more about –

“That’s enough!” Axel’s order was so final that even I was stilled. Tension lay thick in the air as the two enigmas stared down one another, seeing who would be the first to back off in submission. However, the contest was won when Vexen finally looked away. I could him clenching and unclenching his fists while glaring at the ground.

“Never do something like this without permission or leave from the Superior,” Axel sneered. “You are Number Four; you should know better.” Breaking, the red-haired enigma glanced at me. A strange grin spread across his face as he signaled me to follow him. “Set an example for the kid,” he mocked, leading me out of the testing facility. Glad to finally leave that place, I didn’t hesitate in following Axel.

“Axel,” I said, once we were clear of Vexen’s laboratory, “what were those images he was showing me?” We walked down the white hall, going nowhere in particular. As I gazed up at him, I knew that despite the obvious answer I would receive that Axel did know what Vexen had shown me. Why else would he cut the old man off so abruptly? Even now, the Thirteenth Order was keeping something away from me and they did whatever they could to keep it a secret.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” the flame-wielder replied nonchalantly.

“Why the hell not?” I said angrily, stopping in my tracks. I was tired of this bullshit! Whatever those images I saw were, whatever my past was I had a right to know.

“It doesn’t matter, alright?” Reeling around he turned to face me. His look of frustration bore down on me and I felt myself beginning to shrink back. “Why do you care so much about your previous existence? Look: the point is you’re here now and the past is dead. Well… sort of.” Turning his back on me, he started down the hall once more.

But I wasn’t finished yet.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Axel stopped. There was silence as the enigma stared at the marble ground. Curiously, hoping that he had finally cracked, I glanced at his face and saw that his eyes were filled with thought and contemplation. This was it! He was finally going to tell me. Maybe now I would finally have the answers I’d longed for since I was introduced to the Thirteenth Order.

“You know what, kid?” he finally said. “I honestly can’t tell you that.”

If I had a Heart, it would have shattered right then and there. It felt as though my stomach had dropped to the floor. I did nothing –said nothing- but stared up at Axel blankly. Why? Why? Why wasn’t I allowed to know my own past? How could they keep something like this from me? It was torture. It was worse than not even existing at all. When I looked within myself I saw nothing but the abyss of nothingness. No past, no memories, no Heart. Nothing. Axel told me at least I existed, but what was the point of this existence if I had no memories of who I was? I was once again defeated. Sighing bitterly, my shoulders drooped a bit as I glanced at the floor.

“Akuseru? Why were you looking for me?”

“Hmm? Oh. Xigbar says you need training.”

Training? “For what?”

“In combat, of course. How do you expect to represent this ‘Elite Order’ without proper training?” He must have seen my look of dismay, because Axel rolled his eyes and turned towards me. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find the strength within yourself.”

“Really?” I asked meekly, staring up at the enigma. There was something strange about the way he said it, probably because I could never picture Axel saying something as cheesy as that.

“Really.”

Then, without warning, the flame-wielder’s Chakram appeared in his hands. Grinning at me maniacally he raised one over his head, bringing it down towards me.

 

[Angel Shards]

Copyrights: All characters, settings, weaponry, and magic in this story belong to Square-Enix.

Chapter 4: The Antagonist of Light​

I trained intensively with Axel for little under two weeks straight. It had becoming a daily routine for me. Every morning I would wake early to practise my battle technique with the enigma until the late hours of the afternoon. The training, I have to admit, was exhausting and tested my physical limits, but somehow I managed to survive each day. Axel taught me a lot in the ways of fighting, whether it was in self-defense or full-forced combat. Every now and then, while locked in battle he would call out techniques for me to initiate, or I should get seriously hurt. He had also taught me various attack names and what I should do to achieve them perfectly. These new moves took me a while to learn, and sometimes Axel did hurt me, but it only pushed me to improve my next attack and make it better than it had been before.

From the very start we didn’t go slowly, he said there was no excuse for it, so I pretty much hit the ground running. The enigma would charge at me, wielding his Chakram and I either had to raise my great weapons in self-defense, or feint to the side and attack from a new angle. My first couple of days of training was, for the most part, embarrassing on my behalf. I wanted to fight. And I wanted to fight well - exceedingly well, but Axel always got the better of me. However, I noted that he never once used his element when battling against me. Why was that?

“Please,” he said, rolling his eyes at me, “I don’t want to kill you with your hands tied. Besides, it wouldn’t really be fair, since you haven’t enabled your own power yet, now would it?”

“Fair?” I asked teasingly, cocking an eyebrow. “I didn’t know that you played by the rules.”

Axel shrugged. “Just because I don’t have a Heart doesn’t mean I have to act like I don’t have one.”

“What is my power anyways?”

“Not telling. That should be something the Discovered Key should figure out on his own.”

I hated that; always being called the Discovered Key. It made me feel like a pawn in a chess game conducted by the Thirteenth Order. Was I really a piece that was to be manipulated by them? I didn’t want to think so, but something deep within told me I was part of some devilish plot.

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Do I really have to spoon feed you like a baby?”

“No,” I growled testily.

“Alright, alright,” Axel laughed. “Then why don’t you show me, killer?”

Spreading his Chakram out to either side, so that his arms were parallel to the ground, a blaze of fire erupted from the enigma. The raging inferno snaked across the marble floor to form a circle around the both of us before rising into the air to serve as a battling ring. Already, I could feel the heat of the crackling flames and sweat beads began to formulate on my brow. It seemed that I had annoyed Axel enough with my persistent need of wanting my power that he was finally going to fight with his element. I did not see this going over very well.

Grinning broadly at me, Axel took a step in my direction and flung one of his flaming weapons at me. The burning Chakram spiraled through the air, the flames licking in its wake. Raising my weapons, I deflected the attack with the Oathkeeper, hitting the spiked-weapon back towards the enigma as though it were a ball. It, of course, hadn’t hit Axel the way I intended it to. Unfazed, he simply lifted his hand into the air and caught the weapon with ease. Damn it. Immediately the red-haired man came towards me, not allowing me any time to think or even to rest. Swinging his Chakram he released two blazing balls of fire that flew in my direction! “Burn, baby!” As the spitfires zoomed towards me I had only enough time to duck and roll to the side, narrowly escaping what would be likely third-degree burns.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” Axel taunted. Clapping his weapons together he allowed them to spin rapidly, the wheels flaming as they went ‘round and ‘round. “Burn!” From those wheels a spray of hell-fire came towards me, threatening to singe my entire being. Once again I could do nothing more but feint to side and escape the raging flames.

I was beginning to run out of options. With his continuous fire-attacks, I couldn’t get close enough to the man to strike him with a physical attack. It was apparent that Axel would not let down his flame-walls, nor would he stop his assault of fiery attacks until I was able to strike back physically, or unlock my hidden powers. I was growing desperate. How could I escape this fiery death trap?

For some time now I had felt a strange energy within me. A strong, throbbing power pulsated within my very being, itching to be released. I didn’t know what that sensation was, but it made me anxious and I felt that I had to relieve myself of it at once. Taking a small step back from Axel, who grinned at me darkly, I lowered my Keyblades to my sides. Right then and there I gave myself up to the power that wanted to be released. It felt like a bomb had dropped and exploded from within me. For a moment, or two, I began to glow faintly before a blinding light surged from my being, traveling in every direction. Feeling the rush of this force leave my body I began to feel dizzy, slightly light headed. Before I knew it, the light snapped back into me like an elastic band and I began to sway from side to side, unable to control this power.

Trying to blink out the black dots that began to cloud my vision, I could hear a pair of hands clapping. Looking up, I was able to make out the hazy shape of Axel walking towards me, grinning broadly. His Chakram were no longer in sight and the room returned to normal.

“Alright, Roxas. Alright,” he said smoothly, sounding pleased. “Looks like you were able to find your power without me holding your hand. You are growing after all.”

I smiled weakly, also pleased. “What was that?” I asked breathlessly.

“Why, non other than the power of Light. Which, I guess, makes you the Antagonist of Light.”

“Antagonist?” What was that supposed to mean?

“Well, you certainly aren’t the Hero of Light, now are you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.” The way he had said it wasn’t meant to be cruel or taunting. It sounded like he was just stating a fact of nature.

Still, a frown formed on my face. I was confused. Why did Axel say that to me? I felt that I should be happy for having mastered my own unique skill, but being dubbed the Antagonist of Light lowered my spirits. It sounded like an implication that I was an enemy of the Light. Was I? Yet another mystery the Organization would likely never answer for me or even have me find on my own.

As time progressed, I steadily became better at mastering both my combative skills as well as my element of Light. I was now able to use both of my Keyblades in unison, performing a graceful dance of death with each step I took. Finding the strength within my empty-self, I could wield these magnificent weapons with great ease and agility. Likewise, I could also master my element of Light, profoundly much better than the first time I had unlocked that power. I was now able to release what bursts of that energy I needed to blind my enemies as they rushed me, or to even knock them flat on the ground with an explosion of Light. My once-slow attacks had become speedy, and I showed no mercy, even against Axel. The enigma had once been able to defeat me, when I was naive and clumsy. But it had come to a point where I’d defeated him in battle fairly.

In his own taunting way, Axel had been right. It was the strength that I found within myself that allowed me to progress through the rigorous training in little over a week with great success. It was as though I had performed these exact battles skills in combat before, only with a little tweaking this time around. They had come to me quite easily; as if it were an abandoned practise I’d once again taken up. Strange. With these nagging thoughts buzzing around my mind I dismissed them and focused on my place in the Organization. But I still couldn’t help but wonder: had these combative skills once belonged to the Hero of Light?

 

[Angel Shards]

Chapter 5: Key Piece​

Exactly two weeks since I was conceived from the darkness I woke up early and headed eagerly towards the room where Axel and I practised combat. By now I had learned all the skills necessary to defend myself in and initiate battle, but this was something I had come to look forward to every morning. Since entering the Thirteenth Order I had experienced coldness from each one of the members and, even though I had no Heart, it made me sad. Axel was the only person that I shared a bond with. It was strange. He was the only one who could get me to open up, who I could be myself around. I felt like I had a Heart. From the beginning he protected me from the scorn of the others and made an attempt to make me feel like a part of the Order. I am even so bold as to think that my coming into existence gave Axel somewhat a great sense of purpose –for himself- in the Thirteenth Order. It was a strong, platonic brotherly bond we had.

However, this morning was different from the rest. Entering the combat chamber my eagerness turned sour when I saw that it was not Axel who lazily waited for my arrival. Standing in the red-haired enigma’s place was a slender-framed youth with silver-blue hair covering a good portion of his face. His back was facing me, but I could tell his arms were haughtily crossed over his chest as conferred with a large, broad-shouldered enigma who said nothing. A look of deep thought was on the thick man’s chiseled face.

Zexion and Lexaeus.

“Roxas,” Zexion greeted curtly, turning in my direction after his companion nodded at my arrival. His gloved hand went thoughtfully to his chin as I stopped in the entrance of the hall.

“Where’s Axel?”

“Akuseru has been assigned on a mission today.”

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I stared intensely at the two Nobodies who gazed nonchalantly in my direction. Both enigmas, Zexion in particular, made me very uneasy. Lexaeus, though he rarely said much, was a very large, muscular built man who possessed the power of the Earth. He was Number Five, one of the first members of the Thirteenth Order who cared very little for the more recent members. Zexion was one of the youngest members and was Number Six. He was very calculated, for his age, always conspiring and using his soft, but very passionate, words to get others to do what he wanted. He was a member Axel had said I should be weary of, which was why I put my guard up the moment I saw him in Axel’s place.

“The Superior has been watching you train,” he said, breaking the silence. “He is pleased with your skills and thinks you are ready to represent the Thirteenth Order.

“But,” he continued, a trace of a smirk in his monotone voice, “he also couldn’t fail to notice that this whole time it has only been Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, that you’ve been succeeding in battle. I suggested we try something different.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. Not allowing the Cloaked Schemer to see the dread I felt, I remained calm, narrowing my eyes at the youth. “Are you going to fight me?” I asked coolly.

A cold smirk spread across Zexion’s pallid lips. “Unfortunately, no.” Lowering his arms from his thoughtful stance, the enigma indicated to Lexaeus beside him. “I thought you might like to take on the Silent Hero.”

With no expression on his stone-like face, Lexaeus stepped forward on cue. In his gloved hand appeared a large, black tomahawk. A shudder of fear ran through me. The man was enormous! His weapon was enormous! How the hell was I supposed to defeat that and not get myself completely wiped from existence? This task looked impossible, but there was no way around it without tarnishing a reputation I barely owned yet. I could either back out of this fight and be dubbed a “wimp” like Demyx, or I could apply the skills I had learned through the course of my training and see if these two weeks had paid off. Gritting my teeth, glaring at the two enigmas before me, I made up my mind, drawing forth my dual-Keyblades.

“Well, well, well…”

“This is not a show, Marusha,” Zexion said coldly, glaring at the two Nobodies who just entered the combat room. Glancing behind me, I saw that it was both Marluxia and Larxene who decided to watch the spectacle. Oh great. Just what I needed! More people to add to the pressure I already felt when I saw Zexion and Lexaeus in the room.

“Please,” Marluxia said, amusement floating in his flawless voice, “don’t flatter yourself. You aren’t the only one who is eager to witness the boy’s strength.” Leading the way, with Larxene just behind his shoulder, the pair situated themselves just in front of the door, blocking the exit. The man’s keen, wolf-like eyes gazed towards us, as if smiling. His lips were curved in an upward smirk on his delicate face, framed by a mass of thick, feathery hair. Yes, Marluxia did look like the delicate flower in the blissful garden. But every rose had its thorn and he had more than just a few. Since I first beheld the man I suspected he wasn’t one to be trusted. In his eyes he always seemed to be plotting something. The fact that you couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking caused great tension.

“For your information,” Zexion snapped, a biting tone in his monotonous voice, “the Superior –

He was interrupted by the cold, high-pitched giggle of Larxene. Her hallow, doll-like voice made my skin crawl. “Do you really think your words can fool us, Zekushion?” A sneer formed on her porcelain face. “It is a little more than obvious you wanted to test the child’s strength out yourself and not share his abilities with the rest of the Order.”

“I’d say that’s rather selfish of you, Zexion,” Marluxia commented, twirling a fragile red-rose between his gloved fingers. He didn’t even glance up at Zexion, but instead looked at the flower as if it were more interesting than his comrade. “Does the Superior even know about this little event?”

“Of course he does,” Lexaeus suddenly spoke, making me jump a bit. I had almost forgotten that the large man was there. “Unlike you, Marusha, we do not scheme behind his back.”

“Whatever gave you the impression that I had ill-intentions towards our Superior, Rekuseusu?” Now he looked up at the pair, a dangerous glint shone in his blue eyes. “As it so happens, the Superior holds me in very high standards. Am I now beginning to see the corruption of jealously brewing?”

“Come now,” Larxene cooed, a delicate poison in her smooth voice. “Is this really the time to be acting like a children? Do we really need to be reminded to play nicely?”

It seemed that in this fray of worded insults I was completely forgotten. Standing in the center of the room, no more than a few feet from Lexaeus, I lowered my weapons and watched silently as the Nobodies bickered amongst each other. It seemed, that before my arrival, there had been some bad blood between those who were first amongst the Nobodies and the more recent ones. The more senior members were growing fearful that the newest editions would soon outrank them. There was, as Marluxia stated, jealously between the members of the Thirteenth Order.

Well, at any rate I was growing tired of this bickering. I was completely forgotten. Cast to the side like some rag toy that barely served its purpose. Both parties wanted to see what I learned in my short trial of training, they both made that clear. And I was growing impatient, my muscles now becoming cold. I just wanted to get this over with!

“Hey-

But Zexion, throwing out his own orders, cut me off. “Enough of this! We came to see the Discovered Key’s strength, not to argue about petty issues.” This sounded final and all who were present in the room silently agreed. Giving both Marluxia and Larxene a last, suspicious glance, the young enigma turned towards me. “I hope you’re ready,” he stated coldly as he crossed his arms over his chest, withdrawing himself to the other side of the room, opposite to the two he so greatly loathed.

Narrowing my eyes at the silver-blue haired youth, I nodded curtly. Though my muscles had relaxed a bit, the anticipation of the battle once again resuming got my adrenaline pumping. I was ready.

Tension lay like a thick fog in the white room. Swinging my Keyblades lazily from side-to-side, so that I could limber up and get the blood flowing in my wrists, I turned to face the bulky, broad enigma. Craning my neck slightly, I looked up at the beast of a man. His hardened face looked down at me with little expression. I might as well have been a bug needing to be exterminated for all he cared. It was enough to give me doubts about this battle. But by this time there was nothing I could do.

“It begins now,” Zexion declared coolly, allowing the fight to commence.

In one swift, powerful movement Lexaeus thrust himself forward, extending his ugly tomahawk in my direction. Having no time to block the attack, I sunk low on my haunches and sprung off the ground, performing a graceful flip backwards just before the sharp end of the brute’s weapon could pierce me. Landing a good distance away I still had no time to recover from the enigma’s first move. Despite his bulky size, the man was surprisingly agile. In a matter of seconds he was once again upon me, raising he monumental weapon into the air, bring it down towards me. Ducking low to the ground, I managed to roll away to the side just in time, striking him with the Oathkeeper as I rose. Apparently I hadn’t caused him much pain, because Lexaeus merely gritted his teeth, as though ignoring any damage I might have dealt him, and spun towards me, swinging wide with his weapon. The tomahawk caught me in the middle with its flat edge, sending me flying through the air and landing back-first on the marble ground. Somewhere near the exit I could hear Larxene’s cold laugh of amusement.

Bitch.

Recovering, I rolled out of the way as the beast came charging at me, like a mad bull. Flipping onto my feet I raised my two weapons just in time as he lashed out at me with his tomahawk. The deadly song of metal rang throughout the room of the weapons clashed. Withdrawing his weapon, Lexaeus advanced towards me, forcing me back, again swinging his weapon skillfully in my direction, and thrusting it forward occasionally. Slash. Slash. Clang. Thrust! Clang. Slash. It seemed there was no end to his rain of physical assaults. However, in his flurry of attacks I finally saw an exit.

As the giant pulled back, preparing to thrust his weapon towards me, I quickly sunk down on my knees and sprung up into the air, performing a flip straight over his head and landed almost cat-like behind him. With great agility I rose and struck out simultaneously with both Keyblades. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. I didn’t stop my reign of attacks. Not that I finally was able to strike him. All I could think of was overwhelming my opponent with a mass of hard hits in the hopes that it would cause as much damage of possible.

Lexaeus growled in pain as each massive weapon struck him on the back. Finally, it got to the point where he could not take the beating anymore and the broad man turned around, blocking my attacks with the blunt side of his tomahawk and quickly backed away. At first, I had thought he was giving up, but I was greatly mistaken. Now that he was a good distance away from me he was able to attack me from a new, surprising angle. Lowering his weapon to his side, Lexaeus became rigid and his hardened face was filled with concentration. Then, raising his hands upwards, about shoulder-height, he used his Earth-bending powers to split a crack in the once-smooth, marble floor of the castle. From that chasm rose a large boulder, rotating slowly in the air. I looked up at the enigma to see him smirking almost triumphantly at me before he used his abilities to hurl the massive boulder in my direction. But I didn’t roll to the side, nor duck out of the way. I wasn’t going to flee, for I also had a power itching to be tested out.

Holding my ground I glared as the rock spun towards me at high speeds. Gritting my teeth, I anticipated the boulder’s impact. As it got closer and closer I channeled that energy inside me, preparing to use it to aid me in battle. Just as the spiraling rock was about to hit me I lifted both of my Keyblades, using the power of Light to slice right through the dense material. In two clean swipes the rock broke in half, parting to either side. I smirked up a Lexaeus, returning his triumphant grin. His arrogant smile was no longer on his chiseled face.

With a growl, I kicked off from the ground and charged towards the Earth-bender. This seemed to alarm him, because the man raised two more boulders from that crack in the white floor and hurled them at me as I approached. As I worked on channeling my own power, I managed to dodge one rock, but I was able to cut through the other with my weapons as I had before.

As I got increasingly closer to Lexaeus I could see a small wave of panic course through his hardened face and I knew he was becoming a little desperate. He could not allow himself, a senior member, to be defeated by a neophyte! Before he could counter my upcoming attack I used the remainder of my Light-bending abilities to my advantage. Now aware on how to control my powers I released it completely, bathing the room in a screen of pure, blinding Light.

“Where happened?” I heard Larxene snapped, probably thinking I had fled from battle. “Where did he go?”

“He’s still here. I can still sense him,” this angry statement was spoken softly by Zexion. If the young-enigma was still aware that I was here, and knew where I was, that meant I had to act quickly.

Closing the remaining distance between Lexaeus, who looked about in a wild blindness, and myself, I sprang towards him. Pulling back my arm, I swung at the brute with the Oblivion Keyblade, striking his shoulder. Startled and in pain, Lexaeus growled and swung his weapon blindly towards me. Having an advantage over him, I was able to dodge his attack and move to his side, lashing out at him again with my Keyblades. He yelled again. But I would not stop so readily. With great speed I continued to strike the enigma with both my weapons, causing him to stumble back. He could not see me bathed in my light. Smirking, perhaps a little too arrogant, I leapt into the air and knocked him back with a powerful kick. Immediately I was upon him, once again striking ruthlessly with my weapons. Perhaps a little too ruthlessly, because the dark, red liquid that was Lexaeus’ blood graced my Keyblades and dripped to the broken floor. I didn’t care. I had become a merciless killer, trained by Axel himself. I wasn’t about to let up now.

“Enough!”

Suddenly the blinding Light was gone and the battle came to a screeching halt. I stood only feet away from Lexaeus, panting and dripping in sweat. Opposite of me, Lexaeus stood in a hunched position, his coat stained in his own blood. His hard, black eyes looked at me with a mixture of hate and fear. It was clear he had never encountered this power before. A satisfied grin spread across my face.

“You have proved your power,” Zexion said venomously as he approached me. Glancing at the youth, I could see a shadow of hate darken his fair face. “Welcome to the Organization, Number Thirteen.” Each word was biting and cold, almost mocking. Before another moment passed both he and Lexaeus were gone, having disappeared through a portal of Darkness. All that were left in the room was myself, accompanied by Marluxia and Larxene.

“I think we’ve found the Key,” the man said, turning to Larxene with a bright smirk on his face.

The woman merely smirked and nodded. “I think you could be right.”

Before I could ask what they meant the two enigmas vanished in a portal of Darkness, leaving me alone to ponder the meaning of their speech.

 

[Angel Shards]

Chapter 6: The Lord of Castle Oblivion​

Axel hadn’t returned from his mission until later on that evening, so I had spent a small portion of the afternoon with Demyx. Apparently news of Lexaeus’ defeat at my hands spread quickly (which I really wasn’t all that surprised about). The Water-bender was the first to approach me, giving me the thumbs up and exclaiming: ‘You rock!’ Uncertain of how to respond to his compliment, I simply smiled sheepishly and mumbled a ‘thanks…’

“No wonder the Superior thinks so highly of you!” he said happily.

I paused for a few seconds and stared dumbly at Demyx. The Superior… he held me in high standards? But I had never seen him, let alone actually know who he was. I was curious to know more about him. “He… he does?”

“Of course he does! You’re his Discovered Key.”

“What do you mean by that,” I snapped, sounding more sharply than I had intended. I just couldn’t stand people referring to me by that title. I hated feeling like a pawn.

“Ah!” Flinging up his arms, as if warding me off, Demyx took a tentative step back. His ocean-blue eyes looked at me with concern, more so for his well being than for me. After deciding I wasn’t really going to harm him, the young man lowered his hands and thought briefly before saying, “You know what? You’re a pretty intense kid.”

My gaze narrowed at him, but I said nothing.

“You need to chill out, man,” then, snapping his fingers he said: “I know just the thing!” Lifting his left arm into the air, stretching his fingers wide, a strange instrument appeared in his gloved hands. It had a long, narrow neck with a large, wooden body at the end. Four slender strings stretched him its head across the body. It was a Sitar. “A Sitar will calm you down. The music is very soothing.” Situating the instrument on a diagonal across his body, Demyx used his left hand to hold down the frets while his right fingers picked the delicate strings with a gentle accuracy. Indeed, the music that did come forth from that instrument was quite relaxing, but I didn’t want to stay around for this. I wasn’t interested in a personal concert.

“No thanks,” I said shortly, hoping he would get the hint as I left. Behind me, I could hear Demyx sulking.
†††

Wandering around Headquarters, with no particular place in mind, I stumbled upon a seemingly empty hallway. Upon entering it, I thought it was deserted so I continued through until I heard the hushed whispers of two unseen enigmas. Immediately I stopped in my tracks, straining my ears to hear the voices. One belonged to a man and the other to a woman. Curious about the conversation and not wishing to be seen, I pressed myself against a nearby wall. My searching eyes spotted two shadows jutting from behind a pillar nearby.

“His strength is impressive. More than that. I would say it nearly equals the power of his Nobody,” these words belonged to the unseen man. “This plan is looking very practical.”

“How do you know this?”

“The Superior fought him.”

“When?” the woman demanded.

“About two weeks ago, after his birth.”

“And how did you acquire this information?”

There was a deep chuckle. “The Superior told me, of course.”

“Why would the Superior tell you?” she sounded skeptical, as if what the man was telling her was an utter lie.

“I will tell you the same thing I told Zexion: ‘The Superior holds me in very high standards.’”

“Xenmas is a fool.”

“I’m glad we agree on that. No matter. I have arranged to bring him to Castle Oblivion. There it will begin.”

“I don’t see why we need him,” the woman said. “We have his Nobody. They share the same power. Why not use–

“My dear, Rakushïnu,” the man laughed, adoring Larxene’s intelligence, “because he has no Heart. He will be of no use to us if we cannot control him. We need Somebody who has a Heart. Hearts are easy to break and bend. Even control. You, of all people, I thought would understand this.”

Larxene said nothing.

“I am assuming you understand why we need him, then?”

“He is a toy,” the woman said. I could hear the sick pleasure in Larxene’s voice.

“That’s my Princess,” the man said sensually. I could hear the folds of sweeping coats as the two held each other in an embrace. “Why do you doubt me so?”

“Marusha, I never doubted you,” Larxene said passionately to Marluxia. “But we do not know all the secrets of the Heart yet. What if our hypotheses are incorrect? What if we cannot control him?”

“Then I will give you the pleasure of destroying him. He is only a toy, after all.”

No more words were spoken as the sound of lips catching each other was heard. Unaware that they were being watched, I stood against the wall, unable to move. What were Marluxia and Larxene planning and who was this boy they needed? I didn’t know, but I felt that I leave before I was discovered eavesdropping. Feeling for the pathways of Darkness, I opened up a swirling portal behind me and sank into it as though I had never been there.

†††

That evening I had been overjoyed that Axel returned from what was a likely successful mission. I had wanted to badly to tell him what I had heard in that wing of the Castle, between Larxene and Marluxia, but I didn’t get the chance. The entire Organization was summoned to the Great Hall for an urgent meeting. Somehow, I knew this had to do with the conversation I bore witness to.

Stepping through the hallway of Darkness into the great, white room, I quickly made my way towards my chair and sat down. Quickly glancing over all the members I saw that we were all here, with the exception of the Superior. Did he ever attend meetings? I guessed not. Sighing, my gaze rested on Axel and I was surprised to see his cat-like eyes staring intensely at Marluxia and Larxene. I had never seen Axel look at anyone so dangerously before. However, he must have felt me watching him because his sea-foam eyes glanced my way and a quick grin spread across his lips. Tentatively glancing at the pair not to me once more he looked away.

“Alright,” Saix said, addressing the two Axel had been staring to dangerously at, “what is the nature of this meeting you have arranged?”

Delicately clearing his throat, Marluxia stood from his chair and gazed swiftly about the group. “Larxene and myself have been conducting our own research, with permission from the Superior himself. I have decided I wanted to our research to go a little further and more in depth.” Each word spoken was so calculated and so precise. I didn’t know why, but it kept my hanging on to every word. “After approaching the Superior with my offer he has agreed to give me my own headquarters in order to take this a step further. I have been made the lord of Castle Oblivion.”

“What researches are you conducting that is so important you’re given your own domain?” Vexen immediately interjected, looking rather hurt.

“Why, concerning the Heart of course, Vikusen,” Marluxia responded. “We want to see under what conditions the Heart can be broken or bent. Whether or not it can be controlled. We have made a few hypotheses, but so far our results are inconclusive. That is why we have been given our own headquarters so that we may devote or entire time to unlocking that well-hidden secret. I will, however, say no more on the subject.”

Turning to the entire Order, he added, “You are welcome to join by leave of the Superior of course.”

“We know,” Zexion unexpectedly spoke. There was a smirk across his pallid face. “The Superior himself has already approached both Lexaeus and I, affirming that we assist you in your research.” Marluxia did not respond. “I hope there isn’t a problem, Marusha.”

“Of course there isn’t,” the Lord of Castle Oblivion spoke softly. However, I could see the unmistakable look of displeasure and contempt on his face. “Anyone else?”

There was no answer. A few times, it looked as though Vexen was struggling with the pressure to join the group and assist in the research. Despite his inner-conflict, the elder man remained silent.

“No? There are those of you who may still yet change your mind. Until then, I bid you all farewell.” A moment later four portals of Darkness opened underneath the Nobodies, who stood, and swallowed them up. Once the four had vanished my gaze fell immediately towards Axel. I had to tell him what I had heard in that hallway. I had a feeling that, despite Marluxia’s seemingly good intentions, he held mal-intent towards the Organization. However, the chance to tell the fiery haired man what I knew once again escape me. Axel had also disappeared.

 

[Angel Shards]

Chapter 7: De-Weeding Our Garden​

“Well, this is a total blow,” Xigbar said angrily the next morning. “Wanna know what Saix told me? Vexen left this morning to join Flower-Power in Castle Oblivion.”

There were a few of us congregated in one of the many hallways found throughout the Organization Headquarters. Demyx sat on the ledge of one of the windows, which overlooked the dark, empty city of the Nobodies below. Beside him was Luxord who shuffled a deck of cards as though he found those to be more interesting than us. Opposite of them, I sat silently on the white, marble ground, leaning against the wall. Xigbar had just recently joined us, storming in from one of the rooms to deliver this information to us.

“I knew it would only be a matter of time,” the gambler said without care. “Being a man of science, there was no possible way Vikusen could pass up that offer. Everyone has their personal cocaine.”

Turning his pale blue eyes on Demyx, Luxord added. “You owe me some munny, mate.”

“Awww, man!” The Water-bender clutched at his dirty-blonde hair in dismay.

Luxord was a gambler by nature. Anything to do with bets or wages was his own personal cocaine. He had never spoken to me about his previous existence, but I had the feeling that the man was some sort of gambler. Maybe even a pirate. The man had such a precise, calculated air about him. Most of the time he was deep in thought, with his hand resting just under his trimmed chin as though strategizing his next move, whatever it was. And, always, he carried around a deck of fifty-two playing cards, which he shuffled very often. Axel said that he treated everything, from battle to everyday actions, as a game that needed to be handled carefully. Though Luxord didn’t appear to be cruel or spiteful like the others, I felt that he was still a person I should be wary of.

“If you think that’s a change of cards,” the Gambler of Fate added, “Axel is also set to join their ranks.”

The words escaped my mouth before I knew I was saying them. “What?”

“Aye. As luck would have it, I was in the right place at precisely the right time. You see, I happened to hear Saix and Axel conferring and from what I gathered our fiery-haired friend is all set to leave for Castle Oblivion this afternoon.”

I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. In the place where I should have had a Heart, I could feel my empty cavity swell with the most unusual feeling. I didn’t want Axel to leave. Out of all the other Organization members who I had to live with he was the only one who I felt I could connect with. Axel was the one person who did not treat me like some pawn or an expendable little toy. He treated me like I was a Somebody. And once again he was leaving without telling me. This meant I would have to endure long days of dodging Demyx’s persistent attempts at brotherly bonding.

But then I remembered something from the previous day. After Marluxia, Larxene, Zexion, and Lexaeus had left for Castle Oblivion Axel was missing as well. Had the Superior himself summoned him? Maybe he had already known about the Graceful Assassin’s plot all along.

“Man, this bites,” Demyx pouted as he drew invisible circles on the ledge’s surface. “They get to do work on a brand new research expedition while we’re all stuck here to finish our lame findings. Maybe we should just join too.”

“And if we all went about jumping off cliffs I suppose you’d do the same thing too.”

“Axel!” As the enigma stepped through his archway of Darkness, I leapt to my feet to greet him. However, after seeing his new demeanor I decided to stay in my spot, simply standing against the white-wall. There was something different about my friend. His usual arrogant, carefree persona had changed drastically to that of a very grim air. Tension buzzed and crackled in his wake. I had never seen Axel look so deadly before. Still, catching my eye he smiled for only a moment before turning his attention to the rest of the group.

“You don’t want to join Marluxia and the others at Castle Oblivion. Believe me.”

“Is that so?” Luxord asked skeptically as he took a step towards the redhead, folding his arms across his chest.

“I’d wager your life on it,” Axel replied dangerously, his cat-like eyes glinting with a strange light. This seemed to be enough to catch the gambler’s attention, for he merely nodded. “This is a match you don’t want to take a gamble with. Savvy?” the Nobody mocked Luxord, though this comment was directed towards the other members as well, all who said nothing. He must have felt that his orders were clear, because the redheaded enigma smirked knowingly and began to walk down the hallway, away from us. No one followed and no one said anything more.

It was clear Axel knew something about Marluxia and his true intentions in Castle Oblivion that we did not. He didn’t –and wouldn’t- say anything about the information he had been given. I then began to wonder if it was the Superior who had summoned him yesterday evening, after the four Nobodies had departed from the World That Never Was. Pieces of a puzzle were beginning to fall together, mapping out the truth. Still, I had to know for certain what was going on and how it involved my friend. I had to know the truth!

“He must think he’s real smart, thinkin’ we’re suckers for his smooth-talk,” I heard Xigbar comment bitterly.

“Actually,” Luxord said, staring at the ground. Once again the gambler was deep in thought, “I think he’s genuine. If we don’t trust his word, we could lose the game.”

“Axel!” I called, taking off after him. Leaving my comrades to speculate over the little pieces of information they’d been granted I ran towards Axel. They may not know what was going on, but I did. After all, I had heard most of Marluxia and Larxene’s conversation, which I now could confirm was what they were planning at Castle Oblivion. I didn’t have any doubts that Axel already knew this, but I just wanted to tell him to let him know that I knew what was going on.

“Axel!” I said once again. The enigma stopped in on of the doorways that lead into one of the large rooms of the Castle and turned around to face me. He looked very tired and maybe even a little annoyed; I could see it in his sea-foam eyes. Two weeks ago, this might have taken me aback, but I was more comfortable with my position in the Thirteen Order. I was a member and, though I was still a newcomer, I had just as much right as anyone else had when addressing other members with concerns. Besides that, Axel was my closest friend here, the only one I could talk openly with. If he didn’t hear what I had to say then who would?

“Yeah, what is it, kid?”

“I just thought you should know… it’s about Marluxia and Larxene. They’re up to something. Yesterday, before we were called to a meeting, I –

“Hey, hey, relax,” Axel said, sounding very amused at the dismay in my voice. “I already know.”

Turning towards me, Axel crouched down slightly so that we were eye level. Clapping his hand on my shoulder, the enigma pulled my close to him. “It seems that we have some weeds in our little garden,” he spoke softly. “And do you know what happens when weeds are not taken care of? They get out of control and infect the other flowers. The only way to stop that from happening it so destroy the weeds before the problem becomes even worse. Got it memorized?”

I understood what Axel was saying and nodded my head slowly to confirm this. He was going to Castle Oblivion to get rid of Marluxia and Larxene: traitors to the Thirteenth Order. But weren’t Lexaeus and Zexion there to keep their eyes on the pair? They had said that the Superior had sent them to Castle Oblivion, so maybe they were accompanying Axel with the extermination of the traitors as well.

“When are you coming back?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Axel sighed, adverting his gaze. However, he once again caught my eyes and he smirked. “Don’t worry. You shouldn’t be too bored here. I heard a rumor that the Superior might have some assignments for you.”

Now this peaked my excitement. “Really?!” Did the Superior think I was now ready to represent the Thirteenth Order in executing a mission? I was no longer a neophyte: I was a full-fledged member of the Organization who could prove his power.

“Yeah, maybe,” the redhead chuckled, letting go of my shoulder and ruffling my hair. “So you’ll have to tell me all about your first mission when I get back.” Releasing me, he took a step away and opened an archway of Darkness. “But now I have to clock-in to my new job. Don’t want to be late on the first day.”

Smirking, Axel turned towards his newly opened passageway and stepped through, waving as he disappeared into the Darkness. Once the portal was closed I was left in the hallway alone, staring into nothingness.

 

[Genocide]

Wow. That is long. Awesome. It's REALLY good. I hope I didn't break a rule of posting or something. If I did, sorry. Anyway, make more

 

[Dexen]

i hope you can write some more soon

 

[mayura]

i thought this fic already gone,but i'm glad you continue this fic again,i really love this fic^^