Chapter 5 - Past Truths, and Number Twelve

DISCLAIMER: Must I? Ugh, fine. I do not own Xemnas (Princess Mansex), Xigbar (Xiggy the Pirate), Xaldin (Sideburns of DOOM), Vexen (Hojo's defect brother), Lexaeus (Steroid Man), Zexion (Emo Kid), Saix (Fluffy McRAWR), Axel (Mr. BURN EVERYTHING), Demyx (Mullet of Sexiness), Luxord (Strip Poker Champion of the Universe), Marluxia (Flower Power!), or Larxene (PMS 24/7!). I do, however own the names Rudol, Umarali, and Relena.

I turned my Xanga into a little journal revolving this story, my thoughts, and other things. You can find it at But please, any comments you have reguarding the story, please post here and not there. Thank you.

PART 5
'Past Truths, and Number Twelve'

A few months passed before anything really exciting happened. About 5 months, to be exact. Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion locked themselves in their laboratory every day to do more weird experiments on the Heartless. We rarely saw them emerge from the murky lab. I only saw Xigbar about once every few weeks. So really, Axel and I had the castle to ourselves. Saïx, Luxord, and Marluxia pretty much just kept to themselves in their respective rooms. Once in a while, Luxord would call a group game of Strip Poker, but that wasn’t too often. It was usually me or Marluxia who’d end up naked in the end. Luxord cheated somehow, and Axel was just lucky.

It also gave Axel and I more time to get close. We weren’t really able to be together with all the missions, and activities Xemnas had us do, and Xigbar was always trying to get between us. We started sleeping in the same room, usually mine. We’d sit at my window every night, and gaze into the cloudless, starless, nothingness that was our sky. It was so soothing to just watch the shadows swirl around in the air. Although I didn’t have a heart, I felt like being with him gave me the heart I needed. It’s hard to explain. I felt completed around him. He made me feel like I still had a heart and I loved every second of it.

During this time, Axel and I would go on mini adventures to other worlds. We had nothing better to do, so we thought, ‘why not?’ We’d leave, and be gone for days at a time. No, we didn’t kill anyone this time. We just sort of visited, saw how the people were living their lives, and move on. We couldn’t live, so it was fun to see other people live. Our lives were anything but normal, so we often forgot what it was like to be normal. Axel and I agreed that if and when we got our hearts back, we would definitely live together. I told him we should get a big house, and have Xigbar and Zexion live with us, too. He said he’d think about it. He said as long as we got away from Saïx, we’d be golden.

So, let’s speed up to 5 months later. We were lounging on the couch, Axel and I, just taking a little nap. I was on top of him, and he had his arms wrapped around my waist. We heard a loud ‘BANG!’, then a ‘FOOM!’, ‘CRASH!’ something glass broke, and finally, ‘XIGBAR, WHAT THE HELL!?’ The vents were pouring smoke into every inch of the castle. The labs were in the basement, so it all rose to where we were pretty fast. We jerked awake, and tumbled off the couch at the loud noises.

“What the hell just happened?” Axel groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m not sure, but it involves explosions, and Xigbar.” I replied. He rolled his eyes, and we both stood up. We raced down the corridors, down the stairs, down, down, down, to the main floor of the castle. We quickly stopped to catch our breaths when we saw Saïx, and Marluxia running towards us. We looked at each other then we all looked at the door leading to the stairs that led to the lab.

“Well, it’s not going to open itself,” Marluxia noted, going for the knob. Before he could turn it, the door opened. It was Xaldin, white lab coat covered in dust, and debris, hunched over, coughing. Smoke rose from the door, flowing toward us. Xaldin looked up in shock, seeing us all there.

“Leave!” he shouted. “Get out of here now! We have a slight problem down below.”

“Then we should help,” Marluxia cried. “We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“If you want to help, go ahead.” He gestured to the stairs. I looked at Marluxia, who nodded. I wanted to help, too. We both ran to the door. He went down first. I looked to Axel, who nodded, and we descended down the stairs as quickly as possible, trying hard not to breathe in the smoke. Whatever happened, we’ll have to ask about later.

When we got to the labs, I saw how really huge it was. I had never really been down there. It was the entire basement of the castle. And the castle was unnaturally large. Nothing was on fire, so we couldn’t see where the smoke was coming from. Then we started hearing arguing. We ran over to where we heard the voices. It was Xemnas and Xigbar. Xemnas was obviously scolding him for something. And Xigbar was using his, ‘It’s not my fault, don’t blame me!’ tone.

“Why’d you have to do that!?”

“I didn’t do anything!!”

“You ruined the whole experiment!”

“It was an accident!!”

“YOU SHOT THE TEST TUBES!”

“I WAS BORED!”

“GUYS!” I screamed. “What the hell happened?” It was then I felt slithering across my leather boots. I felt lots of movement at my feet, and it was giving me chills. I looked down to see little black and white creatures. They didn’t look solid, and they moved around like liquid. They had glowing yellow eyes, but they weren’t Heartless. I don’t know what they were. I screeched so loud, I’m surprised the glass hadn’t shattered.

“You let the experiment loose, and now, we put the others in jeopardy.” It was then, I noticed, that the others were gone. Xaldin was upstairs, but aside from Axel, Marluxia and I, the only people down here were Xemnas and Xigbar.

“Where are the others?” I asked. It was like they didn’t hear me. They just kept on arguing.

“That’s it! You’re banned from the labs until further notice!” Xemnas shouted. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so angry. His eyes might as well been flames. He was clenching his teeth, his hands were balled into fists, and he was shaking. Furious!

“But Xemnas I-”

“No excuses!” I thought I felt the ground shake. “Five months, we worked on this. And now we have to start over.”

“Most of that time was trying and failing stuff anyway!” Xigbar argued back. “At least now you know what you’re doing!”

“No excuses!! It will still take time to make another one!” I felt very out of place. I don’t think neither Axel nor I were supposed to be hearing this. The slithery thing at my feet had disappeared. Who knew where it was now, whatever it was.

“Xemnas!” Axel screeched.

“What, Axel?!” Xemnas spat back, finally paying attention to us.

“What happened?” Xemnas took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He flipped his silver locks out of his eyes.

“We were trying to use the power of the Heartless for more useful purposes.” Xemnas said, his tone much smoother, and calmer than the last. “As Nobodies, we have special abilities that are unique. What if we were able to harness the power, and strength of the Heartless, and have the unique abilities of a Nobody. Maybe we’re just fooling ourselves.” He let out a deep sigh. “Well, we’re probably going to take a break for a few weeks. Besides, there’s someone I’ve been meaning to draft into our little club.” He showed a little smirk. I knew that meant trouble, and I wanted nothing to do with it this time.

“Axel, I assume you’ll want to retrieve our 12th member?”

“Of course, Master Xemnas.” Then Axel looked at me. “And Demyx will join me.”

“Oh no I won’t,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re gonna have to find a replacement.”

“I could always force you, you know?”

“Just try it,” I said, waving my hands, walking up the stairs. I was expecting an attack, but it never came. I made it to my room in one piece. Where had Axel gone? Did he go by himself? I sat at my window when suddenly, there was a knock.

“Come in,” I shouted. The door opened to show my young colleague, Zexion. His indigo-violet hair was especially messy. “Is everything okay?”

“I-I just wanted someone to talk to.” he whispered. “I was here an hour ago, but you weren’t. I thought I’d come back just to check.”

“Well, come on in, buddy.” I smiled. “Have a seat,” I patted my bed, sitting down myself. He showed a small grin, then walked to my bed. He softly sat beside me, staring off into space. “So what’s the matter?”

“Well, I’ll be honest. I’ve felt kind of stressed lately, and the person I normally talk to has been kind of... Distant lately.” Zexion sighed. I could hear the attempted sadness in his voice.

“You mean Lexaeus?” I questioned.

“Yeah... Ever since we started the experiments, everyone’s been kind of... Weird.”

“I haven’t really seen anyone since you started. ”

“Xemnas has this thing about keeping everything on the ‘low-down’, especially these experiments.”

“What exactly are you guys doing anyway? Xemnas said something about combining Heartless and Nobody power.”

“Well, I really shouldn’t say anything, but it’s actually what I came here to talk about.” I smiled.

“Well, I’m here to listen.”

“Thank you, Demyx.” And then he began...
---
“It’s not really these experiments that are getting to me, but the history we have with experiments. As you know, before I became a Nobody, I was one of the six scientists to create Nobodies. Those projects we had back then, I knew, were a bad idea. And I had a bad feeling about these as well.

“All those years ago... I was the one who objected. I was the one who went against Xemnas. I was the one who warned Ansem the Wise, but I was still too late. I’ve wanted so badly to tell someone, but I wasn’t sure who I could trust. I trust you, Demyx. You’re probably the only friend I have left. Please listen to me, and tell no one what I’m about to say.

“Xemnas, or Xehanort, as he was called before, was the newest assistant scientist to our master, Ansem the Wise. We had found him outside our headquarters, Radiant Garden. He had no memory of where he came from, or who he was. All he knew was the name ‘Xehanort.’. Incidently, unscrambled, it says ‘No Heart’ with an ‘X’. He had a heart, like the rest of us, but that was just something Dilan and I figured out. Dilan is Xaldin’s True name.

“After only being with us a few months, he wanted to already start his own projects. He wanted to tamper with the heart, and see where darkness came from. We knew roughly that the darkness in one’s heart created Heartless. They, of course, weren’t named Heartless at the time. Xehanort named them. He begged Ansem to do these experiments, but Ansem knew better. He knew there would be a disastrous outcome.

“Xehanort didn’t listen, of course. Without Ansem’s knowledge, we all sort of turned against him, aiding Xehanort in his quest to harness the power of darkness. In doing so, we created the very first Heartless. And then they began to multiply. The darkness was growing inside each of us, and without us knowing, the Heartless were slowly chewing away at our souls. Finally, one day, Xehanort decided for us to cross over into the ‘world of darkness’. That’s when I knew we had to stop. We were going too far. I quickly tried to tell Ansem what was going on. I managed to tell him everything, but before we could do anything about it, Xehanort captured us, locking us away. Before I knew it, Xehanort was forcing me to go first. None of the others would help. They were all consumed by their greed for power.

“There was no way I could escape my fate. Xehanort already had a hoard of his new found monsters waiting for me. I didn’t bother fighting it. I just let oblivion come. Before I knew it, I awakened in a strange place. It wasn’t dark, nor was it light. It was just there. I thought maybe I was dead. Purgatory maybe? Who knows how long I was there. It felt like hours, days, forever, really. Then, out of nowhere, more people started arriving. And before I knew it, there we all were. There was something different about each of us, but here we were. The only person missing was Ansem the Wise. Who knows what happened to him.

“Before we realized what happened to us, we all turned to Xehanort, who I guess is now our present day Xemnas. He looked upset, and somewhat panicky. I don’t think he meant for whatever happened to us to happen. Frankly, I don’t think he knew just what would happen. Jerk.

“Somehow, that murky nothingness cleared, and we were back in the lab. Almost everything was destroyed, Ansem was no where to be found, and Heartless where everywhere. There was one man we saw, but I’m not even sure if he was a man. He looked like a middle product of Xemnas and Xehanort. His eyes glowed amber, and he had long white hair. He was unconscious when we arrived, so we just left him.

“After we ran some tests, we figured out that we were just bodies. We realized that our hearts had been devoured by Heartless that were born from our bodiless souls. Xemnas told us that from that point on, he would dedicate all his time to finding a way for us to go back the way we came, but lately, all he’s been doing is creating more of us. And these new experiments. He’s making more, horrible creatures, although he is on to something. He says that those with strong hearts aren’t the only ones who leave Nobodies behind. He says that only the strong ones are the ones that keep their human shape. He’s fixed on finding out what happens to the others. I just don’t think this is right. We have no purpose, and we shouldn’t exist. What’s the point in all this?”
---
I was truly fascinated by what he had to say. None of this I knew, and I don’t think I was supposed to hear it either. He was confiding it all in me, and I had to do my best to keep my mouth shut. I was simply stunned by what went on. I had no idea that this was how we were created. Out of hate, and greed. Then, he had more to say.
---
“I’m sorry, Demyx, but I’m not finished yet. There’s just a little more. Of course, we didn’t accept what we were. Especially not Xigbar. He took it the worst. He would yell about how he was a monster, and then he’d turn around and say things like ‘I am too normal! What do you mean I can’t live anymore?’. I felt so bad, but I blamed Xemnas for everything. Eventually, Xigbar got fed up and left. He traveled for years to other worlds. He came back, bruised, scratched, and bleeding with Saïx, and also with-”
---
A knock at my door.

“Go away,” I yelled. “I’m busy!”

“Axel’s back with a girl! You have to see this!” My jaw dropped. Zexion had already stopped talking, and refused to say anymore.

“I’m sorry, Demyx, but I’ve said too much anyway. If you wish to know more, ask Xigbar.” He then stood up. “We should see what all the commotion is about.” I nodded, and followed him out the door.

We got to the foyer, and everyone else was already there. And Axel was indeed holding a woman. She had short, blonde hair, and was wrapped in what looked like a bed sheet. Axel handed her to Xemnas.

“Her name was Relena.” He said. Xemnas nodded.

“Our first female member. This is quite surprising” Xaldin noted.

“Imagine. A woman with a heart strong enough to-”

“Anything is possible,” Vexen said, cutting Axel off. “Actually, I’d wager that more women then men have strong hearts. Men are too easily persuaded to do evil things. Women are pure and simple creatures.”

“You speak like they’re another species!” Xigbar joked.

“I must note this!”

“Everything’s an experiment to you!” Xigbar laughed harder.

“Enough!” Xemnas called. There was something different about him, but I couldn’t really place what it was. “Everyone shall remain here until the girl awakens.” He nodded at Saïx, then to Vexen, and the three of them left. Xemnas didn’t seem as kind and giving as he was five months ago. No, something was definitely amiss; I just wasn’t sure what it was. I was kind of still wondering about what Zexion told me, but I was too timid to speak up about it. I promised I would keep the secret, so I did.

Marluxia sat on the couch and crossed his legs. His eyes were blank, and he looked lost in thought. Axel joined him on the cushioned seat. I just kind of stood there, waiting like everyone else. Then, Marluxia looked up.

“Gentlemen,” He spoke loud enough for us to hear, but quiet enough so no one else would. “Please come here, there is much I wish to say.” We crowded around the old couch. “Have any of you heard of Xemnas’ plans? He told me, I’m not sure why, but he refuses to tell anyone else. He tells me he trusts me, even though I’ve been here for the least time. I’m not supposed to say anything, but you all have a right to know.

“Xemnas is planning on giving us back our hearts. He has said he’s finally found a way for this to occur. As joyous as I was, there was a darker side to his plan. Not only does he want to give us our hearts, but he wants us to assimilate with hundreds of thousands of other hearts. He wants to collect the hearts released by Heartless and then take their power. Not only would he gain his original heart back, and become human once more, but he’ll also gain the powers and strength of the millions of other hearts he absorbs. I don’t like this at all.

“Of course, this means killing more Heartless, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The bad thing is that he wants to create more Heartless just so he can kill them. The more Heartless, the more hearts. But that means killing more innocent people, and I simply do not agree with that.” He crossed his arms. “I’d like to hear what you all have to say about this.”

“He wants to destroy the Heartless and release their captive hearts…” Axel pondered. “It sounds simple enough, but it doesn’t add up. No one’s been able to destroy Heartless. They disappear. Once they’ve devoured a heart, it’s gone forever.”

“Wrong again,” Xigbar smiled, waving a finger at Axel. “During those five months in the lab, we didn’t always stay in the lab. Xemnas set us out to scout other worlds to see if we could find what he calls ‘the Key Bearer’. I dunno who this guy is, but apparently he has the power to kill Heartless, and release the captive heart. Xemnas wants to use this guy for his plans.”

“Well, this ‘Key Bearer’ person,” I cut in. “He probably wouldn’t work for us unless we made him a Nobody.”

“Right, so what are we waiting for?” Axel grinned.

“Don’t even try it,” Xaldin snapped. “The Key Bearer is who he is because of his extremely strong heart, and strong ties to the light. If he ever fell into darkness, or became a Nobody, he would obviously lose his heart, and therefore be unable to release captive ones.” We all took this into consideration.

“Have you met this Key Bearer?” I asked.

“Xemnas has. He found him at Radiant Garden, or what’s left of it, that castle where Ansem the Wise lived.” Zexion said softly. “He said that he met him, and tested his strength. He is indeed the Key Bearer, for he wields the Keyblade, a marvelous weapon, if I do say so myself.”

“The.. Keyblade?” I was slightly confused.

“Yeah,” Xigbar answered. “It’s a giant key that this kid uses as a sword. It has lots of cool powers that we don’t really know a lot about. And he’s apparently the destined one to master the Keyblade. We have to get him on our side somehow.”

“Um hello?” Marluxia cried, waving his arms. “I’m glad you listened to the first half of my speech, but did you hear the part about more killing?! We don’t want this to happen, do we?!”

“Marluxia,” I said to him. “You and me both want to stop the killing, but think of it this way. If we get our hearts, and are able to live again, we won’t have to kill anymore!”

“But Xemnas-”

“When he gets his heart back, he’ll not want to absorb all the others anymore. He’ll finally be satisfied. We all will be. And then we can let the hearts go back to their original bodies.”

“I hope you’re right…” Marluxia sighed. “He’s been getting kind of power-hungry lately.”

“Well, in any case, we need that Key Bearer.”

“Wait, Xemnas doesn’t know I’ve told you all. Please keep this secret until he’s ready to tell you.” We all agreed.

Before we knew it, Xemnas was back with the blonde girl. He had gotten her a fitting, black leather coat. She was a little shorter than me, and had blue eyes. She was kind of pretty, but there was something odd about her.

“Everyone, this is number 12. Larxene, the ‘Savage Nymph’. She controls the element of thunder.” She smiled and showed us her weapon, or weapons I should say. In each hand, she held three yellow and blue knives. She winked at Xaldin, who surprisingly, quickly looked away, blushing furiously. I didn’t know we could blush.

“Something the matter, number three?” Xemnas said, monotonous, eyebrow cocked. Xaldin quickly regained his composure, and crossed his arms.

“No, Master Xemnas.” He grumbled.

“Good. Make Larxene feel at home. I’ll be cleaning what’s left of our precious laboratory.” And with that, he stormed off.

“Wasn’t my fault..” Xigbar mumbled under his breath.

“Well, Larxene,” I smiled, extending my hand. “Welcome to the Organization! You’re room is down the hall from mine. Care to let me show you around?” I winked. This was the first time I was encountering a woman as a Nobody. Something told me that my True self was a lady-killer. And I could feel the icy glares from Axel and Xigbar from across the room. I didn’t care, though. To my surprise, Larxene refused my offer. Her glare was the coldest of all.

“Sorry, boy, but I’d like a real man to show me around,” She waltzed to Xaldin, who tried his best to ignore her. He kept making faces at Xigbar, who kept mouthing words. Finally, Xaldin looked at her. She was standing right in front of him, arms behind her back, her big beautiful eyes staring him down.

“A big, strong man, that is,” She giggled. Xaldin made a face of disgust, and began to walk.

“If you must, then come along, quickly,” he growled. I had such an urge to follow them, but I did not. It had been a long day, and a long five months. Now that we knew Xemnas’ true plans, Things were about to get a lot more exciting for all of us. This ‘Key Bearer’ was the key to it all. Now all we needed was him on our side. Then nothing will stop us from regaining our lost hearts!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Sorry to all of you who have to endure my absolute LOVE for XaldinxLarxene fluff. I can’t help it, really I can’t. It’s an unhealthy obsession, much like the rest of this story. Sorry this chapter was so long. Now that I’ve introduced the ‘Key Bearer’ (hmm I wonder who that could be!) The story should move a little faster. It’s actually going to have to. Demyx is about to get a very unpleasant surprise, and his name begins with an ‘R’ :D See you in the next chapter!

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