Dark Whispers (Invite)

[themaster]

(Invite List: Ansem, Terra, Young Xehanort)

The chambers of Where Nothing Gathers remained empty, save for its highest seat, which remained occupied by a single individual that cast an unfocused gaze upon the rest of the room. Twelve placid white thrones surrounded Xehanort’s own within a circle, the very same that had belonged to Xemnas in the time before his reformation as a complete person. The Dark Master continued to ponder the recent events that had transpired following Yen Sid’s Mark of Mastery exam, as well as the individuals whom occupied this very room under circumstance. The mass conflict produced from the events on the day of his return was satisfactory, for in Master Xehanort’s eyes all was working in favor of his plan. It was only a matter of time until the last of the Thirteen Darknesses and the Seven Lights were gathered, and soon the reemergence of the true Kingdom Hearts would be upon the worlds, at the call of the complete X-Blade’s master. The time was fated to draw upon all destined to appear in the Keyblade Graveyard, yet there remained a great amount of road to traverse before his lengthy ploy would see its highest moment. Even now events were set in motion to ensure history was guided along its proper course. Members of the Organization were already dispatched among the worlds with assignments, and taking steps to weaken the forces of Yen Sid’s Apprentice, all while they remained none the wiser.

Though while necessary steps were being taken to complete the gathering of the Thirteen, certain assets within this war needed to be addressed. In addition to the essential Keybearers of Light, few of which were adequate enough for the formation of the X-Blade, there remained a sizeable amount of allies, which sought to aid King Mickey and Riku. Many of these would be heroes had rallied under a group calling itself The Academy, and had set up a base of operations within Radiant Garden, the former home of Ansem the Wise. No doubt information regarding the new Organization XIII had been passed to these individuals, and they would seek to make efforts to stop the movements and workings of the Dark Master’s faction. While their hopes of success were high, Xehanort knew with confidence that they would utterly fail, and it would fall to the warriors of the Keyblade to defend the realms in the end. They posed significant threats and the elderly man would not deny this, though there was no doubt that few could match the strength of this new Order of Thirteen. The champions of Light would fall in due time, though their resistance would prove tedious and time consuming. It would be wise to set their sights upon suitable distractions, and through this means the remaining vessels would be found more quickly. However not just anyone was suited to serve the task of bearing the heart of Xehanort, as this much proof was given by the many members of the former Organization. There were several who held promise in serving the Dark Master’s cause, yet they became traitorous or consumed with petty rivalries and desires.

There had been some candidates who possessed enough potential that had surfaced during the War of the Horsemen, however it remained to be seen whether these individuals were the fated to fill the remaining thrones in the Castle That Never Was. There was still much left to be played out before this would all be over, and each of these promising individuals would have enough time to prove their strength and hardiness to the Master of the Seekers. The sienna gaze of Master Xehanort surveyed the room, acknowledging each of the thrones with a mental note of who now possessed the seat, and who had formerly occupied it. The seats of Xigbar and Xaldin were now held by Ansem and Xemnas respectively, which would put The Freeshooter in the seat of the former Organization’s Number Four. Sitting across from Braig in a full meeting, the seat of Number Five would belong to Young Xehanort, with Terra occupying the sixth, and Isa retaining the seventh as before. Vanitas would be granted the Eigth seat upon his return, and should the remaining candidates pass their initiations, the Organization would have all but the Thirteenth throne filled. Master Xehanort’s eyes rested upon the sight of the emptied throne across from him, the former seat of Sora’s powerful and promising Nobody, Roxas. The Key of Destiny held much potential to serve as the final vessel to hold the essence of his heart, yet it was unfortunate that he became too aware of himself, and returned to his true self with the aid of Riku and Ansem the Wise. The Replicas that had been created from memories also served limited purpose, unable to cultivate and develop power like a normal heart would be able to. Although the girl created from Sora’s memories, she had proved to be too unique for her own good, and became a liability toward Roxas’ existence. The experiments carried out with the first Organization allowed Xehanort to assess his past mistakes, and focus his attention of bettering his scheme to prevent such errors from occurring.

Through all these endeavors over the past fifteen years, Master Xehanort had come to understand so much more about the nature of the heart, different means in which it can be controlled and manipulated, and the fabricating ties it held to both Light and Darkness. This much could be said for individuals as it could for entire worlds, for neither was different from the other no matter the size or strength. As formidable as their power had been, truthfully the Heartless Horsemen never stood a chance before the might of an individual’s heart, especially when that said person wielded a Keyblade. They had provided many interesting examples of experimentation on Sora and his friends, testing their hearts as well as their fortitude and resolve. Xehanort had taken his time to gather power, utilizing the efforts of his other selves to carry out his ploy in the Realm of Sleep. After Stroud had been defeated and his return to a complete person had been realized, Xehanort sought out to corrupt one of the potential Seven Lights for his own, turning Terra into a vessel for the essence of his heart once more. King Mickey had been none the wiser, and now would be helpless to save his friend from the past, forced to fight against the feckless youth in the fated battle to come. The sinister nature of Terra’s change of allegiance brought a dark smirk to the features of Xehanort, simply for the amusement that the old man found in the situation.

[youngxehanort]

It had been many months since the thirteens prior meeting. Xehanort had only been reunited with himself on a few separate occasions across the days and in fact that he was in this very same room not that long ago. The raid on The World That Never Was is what had paired himself up with Terra, another Xehanort and one that was most recently converted. The Circle Room was pretty empty as Young Xehanort started to form on the fifth chair in the circle of thirteen. It was only himself and his elder at the moment, but Young Xehanort was confident that the others would soon arrive. Meeting the thirteen again was inevitable and would help organize a greater grand scheme. Paths were laid out in front of them and it was only a matter of pick and choose ..trial and error.

Young Xehanort looked up at Master Xehanort in the top throne and he smiled to himself, figuratively -- not literally. Master Xehanort was the man he aspired to be and Master Xehanort IS the man he is going to become eventually. Both he and the Master are one and the same, two sides of the same Heart. It was a different bond of the Heart compared to that of Ansem or Terra-Xehanort. While yes, they were also the same person, but Xehanort and Master Xehanort WERE the same person down to the very core -- just in different periods of time. Their bond was so similar either one could simply form into the others will as Master Xehanort did to him back when he was effected by Mickey's Stopza.

"It's good to see you again." Spoke the younger half. "Castle Oblivion is going exactly as planned, the memory machines were placed. The residue memories of Sora were there as calculated." Xehanort took a brief pause. "Eraqus was there, but our poor old comrade was put into shock of our younger appearance. You could say he saw a ghost. He wasn't a threat and did not hinder the mission." With the memory machines doing their work they had the residue memory left over from Sora to supercharge into Xion. "As you know due to its nature, Castle Oblivion copies memories and implants them into cards. That copied memory is implanted into the Heart of the World to check to see if it passes as the one who activated the trap and lingers there if it fails to pass." Xehanort motioned his arm to the center Organization XIII symbol. "Now I only need to lure Xion to the castle to coax her to our side. Once infused with the residue memory as planned, she will be as worthy as Sora.. due to her infectious powers."

It was always great to see a master plan formulate together. Each Xehanort had a smaller part of the grand scheme, each like parts of a well-oiled machine doing each task to replicate the goal. "I'm interested in hearing what you've learned in your travels, Master Xehanort. You more than anyone should know that such knowledge pleases me." It was small talk between himself to pass the time until the others would arrive, but it was talk nonetheless. Meeting both Altima and some of the others that were apart of that raid interested him, their powers were somewhat wild. None of them would compare to his however, but they were worthy to note to Master Xehanort once the chance came around.

[deshitana6]

It had been a while since the Dark Heart had wandered the halls of the large castle that existed in a world that should’ve never have existed in the first place, but did. It was a place built by his other half Xemnas, the shell that held Xehanort’s will as much as he did. The Nobody had built this logical, cold, unfeeling place for one purpose and one alone: to find vessels worthy of holding a piece of Xehanort within. Sure, the other had collected Hearts and even drew in the other potential candidates into the trap with promises of becoming whole again, but like most of those connected to Xehanort, the job was a small cover for the truth that was always hidden from those who did not need to know.

The Dark Heart did the same thing on another level. He performed research, collected his data, and sought out Hearts as anyone who knew him would expect him to do. After all, he was the Leader of the Heartless, so it was not unexpected for him to do what he could to protect his own. Nor was it unexpected for him to be drawn to Hearts, the thing the Darkness feed on. He acted on his nature as a Heartless and like good little children the majority fed on this lie never suspecting him to be more than what he showed he was…a monster in human form.

It amused him how those with Hearts were easy to toy with, giving him what he wanted with each action they made. He wanted to see their Hearts, their motivations, desires, all of it. It wasn’t just for himself or the Heartless he did all this. No, his plan was much grander than that. All that information he collected was in turn going to be the tool in which he was going to use to further the plans of Master Xehanort. He would learn the secrets of the living only to use them to break them in the end and make them powerless to stop what was to come.

Already, he had changed his way of doing things as he adapted to the chaos of the worlds. While he was indeed a being of Darkness and would never stop promoting the Darkness to others, the Heartless had begun going down a different track as of late. One that, if it worked out, would benefit the Cause in the end. He had decided that instead of working against the Light that he’d try instead to work with them. It was a plan that more or less was working on the new keybearer he found, but then Lea and Mickey had to get involved making the situation…complicated to say the least, but oh so rewarding. Not only had he been able to find out exactly where at least two of his enemies were and gauge their progress in this little race, but he had also been able to find a new keybearer and the puppet to boot.

The change up in tactics had been a dangerous one, but in the end had brought in so many more fish than the old net he was using. He was confident if he could just stretch that net a bit wider, the information that could be gathered would indeed be invaluable to the Cause, but…what was information without some sort of organization?

He could gather iand move about on his own all he wanted, but to further the Cause the Heartless needed to stay connected with the other pieces. There was no use wandering about aimlessly when things were better handle with a well laid out plan of attack. A trick the Light did not seem to pick up on and now was biting them in the butt. A pity really. He had hoped that he’d get to have a little fun with the opposition out there, but as it stood now those Hearts would be easy snacks.

A disappointment, but perhaps one that could be fixed if the Light picked up their game. Regardless of that, other things had to be done and actions would not be halted to wait on the Light. They would either sink or swim. It did not matter as long as in the end, Xehanort came out on top and on top he would be.

The thought of success brought a spark of excitement to the Dark Heart that drifted in the halls in the form of a brown cloaked figure. The game being played was a long one, made even longer with more villains and heroes to work around, but in the end things were going smoothly enough. Their goal would be achieved, the Heartless was sure of that. There was no need to worry. In time and with some direction, things would fall into place.

The Dark Heart continued move about the place content with the way things were going when unexpectedly it felt a tug upon itself. Something was calling to it, telling it to come. The Dark Heart paused in its wandering and listened to the call. As it listened, a malicious shark like grin appeared with the darkness of the hood.

So the time has come, the Dark Heart thought before letting itself be consumed by darkness. It melted away from the hall and traveled quickly to the room of thrones where it knew that two others connected to the Cause were gathered. The Dark Heart began forming in its respective throne hearing the youngest of the group speaking on progress being made.

As he completed his shift, the white haired Heartless spoke as he locked his amber eyes on the other who had spoken.

“Xion will be easy enough to lead to the castle. In fact, the puppet came to me when I decided to have a small…meeting with the mouse king,” the Heartless reported easily enough as he settled into his seat as his eyes moved from the younger one to the older half. “As expected the king along with a few other keybladers came rushing to put a stop to the threat a Heartless may create, so the event was interesting to say the least.” the Heartless finished as his usual amused smirk appeared on his face before he was falling silent and listening to what was being said. The younger half asked the older one about his own travels and progress, a subject that the Heartless, too was interested in.

So the Heartless listened eager to learn what each had been up to and where they would go from there. As he waited for answers, his eyes drifted to the other thrones wondering this place would be a full house or would the meeting consist of himself and at least a person that made up half of him? Hmm…would the other half come? It would certainly be interesting to see how this played out.

[themaster]

For a moment longer Xehanort continued to ponder the evolution of his ambitions, shifting his thoughts from that of Terra, to the former hero’s would be friends. Aqua had been cast into the Realm of Darkness, never to be heard from for over fifteen years, and Ventus had remained sealed within Sora’s heart all this time. Soon the reemergence of the pure heart of light would occur, and once the boy and his counterpart were brought together, the inevitable clash of the twenty would commence. Xehanort remained certain that all the pieces destined to appear would show themselves, for the many years that his ploy had been in effect, all had been drawing to this very moment. The Keyblade War would be restarted, and there was nothing Yen Sid or the little King could do to hold back the coming tides of darkness. It was perfectly natural for anyone to glance upon the scale of all involved in this conflict, and easily become overwhelmed with doubt that the battle could not happen. Every individual involved, destined to play as a piece of the lost true form of the X-Blade would take their own paths, though even through light and darkness, all roads would come to a junction, a final place of union. There would be many battles, many hardships for the Defending Seven Lights, though Xehanort held confidence that they would all meet at the fated place on the given day. Nothing could shake the certainty of that.

It was then that the sound of two Corridors of Darkness opening filled the chamber of Where Nothing Gathers, and as soon as it had come that it had gone, replaced by a momentary silence before the rich voice of Young Xehanort filled the room. The eyes of the Dark Keyblade Master shifted from the thirteenth throne to the fifth, looking upon the youthful incarnation of himself, before glancing to his right to see the Seeker of Darkness had come as well. With Xemnas, Vanitas, Braig and Isa out in the worlds still carrying out their tasks, there only remained one to join those currently in the placid white chamber. Master Xehanort remained attentive as the time traveler gave his report on Castle Oblivion, and felt delighted to know that his efforts were an ultimate success. Despite what interference could have been given on Eraqus’ part, the memory machines were put in place, and were now gathering what residue memories remained in the Castle from Sora and Riku’s time within it’s depths. Young Xehanort reminded the Master of the Castle’s nature with cards and memories, which only brought about a nod from the elderly leader before Xion came into topic. The puppet created by Xemnas had served little use until now, for her unexplained return marked several questions for many, yet when Xehanort looked upon the unusual experiment he only saw promise. The faux girl would prove to be a powerful and worthy vessel of withholding his heart like the rest, however she would need to absorb and take in what the memory machines were to provide. Listening to Young Xehanort, and then Ansem in turn, the Dark Master rested his elbows upon the arms of his throne, bringing his fingertips together before his face. The unexpected meeting with the King no doubt proved beneficial on Ansem’s behalf, and would now have the forces of Disney Castle on their toes following the confrontation. His youthful counterpart then spoke up, inquiring about his elder self’s recent travels and what the leader of the Organization had uncovered in his search. The statement was true, Xehanort knew better than anybody about himself that knowledge was a true treasure in the eyes of the beholder; it was the key to ultimate power.

As the third arrived to take his seat, Xehanort looked upon the youth formerly known as Terra, and wondered whether or not Eraqus’ boy was still in there or not. In the depths of darkness drowning that heart, was there perhaps a small light where Terra existed, fighting to take control over the abyss again? The likelihood of such a thing occurring was about as probable as that annoying girl Aqua making it out alive from the depths of the Realm of Darkness, slim and doubtful. Even now as the little mouse King sought out to gather his Seven wielders of the Keyblade, but Xehanort knew that such a task would be challenging for Yen Sid’s Apprentice. The Sea of Stars had blessed more with the power of the Keyblade, this much was true, however there were very few who possessed the strength and capability to serve the Cause as a piece of the puzzle. More would also likely be drawn to the rising movements of chaos in the worlds of Gaia, Archipelago, and Pulse, no doubt suspecting the Organization was behind such movements of darkness. Xehanort hoped the naïve and newly awakened would prosper in their entanglement with the numerous villains aiming to achieve their own ambitions, yet within due time they would all become pawns in his Keyblade War. Whether they would argue their fates or not, such a thing was truly inevitable.

“Very good. There is little doubt that the empowering of the doll will be a success. Now that she has been drawn out by Ansem, we can begin with the next phase of acquiring this vessel” began Master Xehanort, letting his rasp voice fill the room. More potential candidates were beginning to show themselves, and soon with the progression of this newest experiment, all the required vessels would soon fill the seats of this chamber. “Eraqus is of little concern to us now. He is a broken man; wandering a Sea of Stars he could no longer hope to understand, lost within his fear of the Darkness. Were he to come to terms with his failure, Yen Sid and Mickey would have use for our old friend, yet he is not to be underestimated nor overlooked. I suspect Eraqus will have some part to play in this before it is all over, so we will retain our observance of his movements for now.” Looking from Ansem, to Terra, then finally to Young Xehanort, the Dark Master gave a satisfied smile before turning his attention to the Sigil of the Nobody in the center of the room. “In light of my recent travels I have come across another pair of wielders, though only one of which proved to serve as a potential vessel, and the other a potential liability. A naïve and fearful boy, and a silent yet determined young lady. We will need to draw the true strength from the one we seek, and discard the spare. Fortunately I already have a task which we can use to accomplish this” spoke Master Xehanort, before taking pause once more. As he lowered his hands to rest upon the arms of the throne, he began to tap the edge of the right with his index finger momentarily before stopping. Leaning forward, Master Xehanort addressed his Organization members once more.

“The boy Sora has set out on yet another Mark of Mastery, and walks the path of the hero once more. It will be our obligation to fill that path with many challenges, and in doing so the remaining vessels shall show themselves along the way. The ordinary youth is naïve, and easily manipulated, so we shall use his bonds of friendship against him. That is the very essence of meaning behind this next task, to instill darkness within another of the Seven Lights through fear and doubt.” Master Xehanort then shifted his intense and focused gazed down to where Terra sat, and let a dark smirk creep upon his elderly features. “You will be most suited for this assignment, and such will be the one to carry it out. Take the candidates Night and 'Artemis' to the Castle of the Beast, and use the prince’s precious rose to unleash the darkness within the hearts of all three. It is doubtless that Keys of the Light will seek to investigate the disturbance, and so this will provide us an opportunity to test the candidates against potential pieces of the X-Blade. We must observe and learn from this clash for research purposes, as this will help with narrowing down our choices for the more promising vessels of the future.” As the assignment needed attending at Beast’s Castle was brought to light, while also touching subject on his newest potential Apprentices, Master Xehanort began to wonder the extent of the other tasks being handled at that very moment. While the Masters of Light continued to fail in their gathering of the Seven, Xehanort continued to set his sights upon uniting his Thirteen of Dark, and whether Yen Sid had brought together his pieces or not, the Princesses of Heart would be sought out more easily. The X-Blade would be reformed whether the enemy could provide a countering force or not, and it was this very variable that would ensure the reemergence of the Keyblade War.

The four not present, those who possessed power and ability far beyond that of the average Light warrior, now sought the remaining pieces to the X-Blade. More roads to traverse would be sought out, uncovered, just as the remaining fated who would bear the heart of Xehanort. The Dark Master then turned his sights from Terra to Ansem, and looked upon the Heartless with great respect and admiration. The Dark Heart had been one of his greatest creations, more so than Vanitas whom had failed to conquer Ventus to complete the blade, more so than the vessel that formerly made up the Seeker of Darkness. Terra’ body had been used to create a pair of the most powerful and loyal subjects to Xehanort’s cause, both halves of his own heart that had carried the Cause until he could reform as a complete person. The foolish Apprentice of Eraqus had reformed just as Xehanort had, as unexpected as it was, though had only fallen to Darkness again in the end; Terra’s next step in his path had been decided by Xehanort, but what of the pair’s Heartless counterpart? “Our past self will have no trouble with empowering the doll, however I am certain it will require unhindered focus and attention in order to complete the process. Your experience and knowledge of Castle Oblivion is unsurpassed, and would prove beneficial should interference from the Light arrive. I entrust the success of acquiring this vessel to you,” explained the Dark Master, finishing his last sentence with an affirming nod before he looked to the empty thrones beyond the eighth. They were the seats that had yet to be decided, though the ones to soon be filled save for the thirteenth. The coincidences with the number thirteen was unusually powerful within the Realms, and even more so that is was the required number of darknesses needed to complete the X-Blade. Xehanort understood and recognized this, as thirteen had been the hardest of the former Organization to acquire, and so enough was to be expected in this second attempt. With the way things were progressing however, the Dark Master remained certain and unworried that the final chosen to bear his heart would come to the World That Never Was.