Nightmarish Discovery of a Tragedy [Xemnas]

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Xion stared at the path her feet were taking through the depths of her Corridor of Darkness. She didn't mind the time to think..sometimes it was all the time she got if she had to leave from places quickly. That hadn't been the case lately, thankfully. No-one was looking for her, and no-one was doing anything that made her keep on the lookout. There was no need to be cautious or wary lately, and it was nice. What made it even nicer was that she was headed home...to Twilight Town.

It had been a while since Xion had visited the safe haven of Twilight Town. She wasn't sure why it had taken her so long to return, but something had seemed off when she had pondered traveling to the sleepy quiet town that had become a home and her place of remembering. She used to spend days here, maybe even weeks.. Xion smiled as she remembered hanging out with Roxas and Axel, and just enjoying the sunset and the ice-cream. She also remembered the less-happy memories...pretty much playing a game of hide and seek with Roxas and Axel while traveling with Riku. She had left them to figure out who she was, and what she needed to do.

But that was the past...she was looking forward to the day that she would see them again, and the trio would sit on the ledge of the Clock Tower Top and share sunsets once more..this time without the shadow of the Organization. They would be able to do whatever they wanted, go wherever they wanted. It would be freedom for all of them, and it would not be wasted.

Stepping out of the Corridor's swirling darkness, Xion looked up from her steps, and froze, completely stunned. Everything went completely blank and silent.. not even a breath passed from her lips as she stared at the horrific and undeniably destroyed sight that surrounded her. Buildings were broken, crumbling, damaged, signs of fire and expended energy marked the stones they and the streets were made with. The tranquil light of the sunset was clouded over, almost blocked out by a thick haze of smoke and...darkness?

No...this wasn't possible. It couldn't be...how could this have happened??

Xion fought the shock with denial. This wasn't Twilight Town...not the World that held so much for her...made her feel safe, helped her keep remembering...not Twilight Town.

"Impossible....it can't be..this isn't right!"

The words escaped from her mind and out into the thick and almost choking air that was filled with smoke and dust and rubble, along with the smell of ruin and death. People had died...and their World....was overtaken. But by what? The marks of battle that she saw were not from Heartless...she was pretty sure of that. The lingering presences that remained of those who had come here..they told a story she didn't want to hear...didn't want to see.

A powerful ache slowly formed in her chest, turning into what felt like a deep aching pain.

"No....this wasn't Heartless... Who did this... WHO DID THIS?!"

Xion wasn't just hurting now, she was angry. And still in shock. She used Corridors to teleport to the Plaza where the Clock Tower still stood; damaged and scorched and marred by the scars of the combat that had taken place, it still remained. She looked up at the Clock Tower's Face, the once gleaming hands now blackened and dark. What had happened...who had ruined this World that had done nothing to anyone??? Xion sank to her knees by the Plaza's edge, her arms holding onto the short wall that overlooked the lower streets of the Town. Right now her mind was whirling beyond control. She needed to think...to figure out what to do..

[Deleted]

The preparations for the arrival of the other Xehanorts was moving along at a reasonable pace, unhindered by the forces of Yen Sid and King Mickey. Since the departure of the twelve Seekers of Darkness from that day in Where Nothing Gathers, the worlds continued to remain unaware that they were in danger. They went about their continued existences without knowing that greater times were soon approaching, only bothered by the constant threat of the Heartless, and a number of individuals who would bring about mischief or terror to their borders. They had seen less of the mysterious silver and white beings that were reported a number of years ago, and many were beginning to believe they ceased to have ever existed to begin with. That was the way the former Number One wished it to be, for the less attention his Nobodies drew, the more successful their share of the group's endeavors would be.

To gather the Princesses of Heart would be an intriguing trial of one's patience, though this was a game that The Superior of the In-Between was far skilled in playing. The plans to draw in Sora through Castle Oblivion, to train and utilize Roxas, and even duping the majority of the former Organization members into serving his purpose, had all taken patience. Plans to act on one's own ambition always took time, and with that time things needed to develop, grow, and bloom into a beautiful, perfectly crafted fruition. That was the core fundamental in any incarnation of Xehanort, a trait that flourished in all who bore the heart of the Dark Master; a shared brilliance for tactical superiority. This very factor is what kept the Organization ahead of its enemies, and why the clash between the thirteen and seven would be inevitable.

Though as a result of the growing Darkness in the worlds, unexplained resurrections occurred in numerous places, bringing back some of the best, and worst, that the stars had to offer. Indeed this unforeseen turn of events had not been accounted for, though it could be used easily to the benefit of Organization XIII. Sora would more than have his hands full with the third party threats, and no doubt the Princesses would be easy to lay claim to. The liabilities and loose ends that were chaotic did have their uses though, and had sought to expand the influence of their ways to several worlds. One of these lands was a world lying in the Realm of In-Between, that had been used many times in the past for training and experiments.

A mockery of a smile swept the face of The Superior as the darkness dissipated, leaving his hooded form to gaze upon the remains of an attack. Powerful entities of the dark had journeyed to this world somehow, and laid waste to the majority of what Twilight Town stood for. Smoke and rubble littered the streets and rooftops; dried bodily fluid, destroyed fruit, puddles of water and sand covered what used to be flawless cobblestone roads. Xemnas gazed upon the sights with a demeanor only a true scientist could maintain in such an environment, and as much as the piece of Xehanort's heart told and tried to influence a suggestion of emotion, the Progenitor of the Nobodies felt nothing at all. He examined the loss of lives and a community as an experiment that had been carried out, even though he initially had nothing to do with it. The Dusks served as spies to bring news to Xemnas of suspicion in the In-Between, and naturally word of a troupe led by a silver haired man not of the Organization led back to their master. Xigbar had made no mention of his involvement, but it wasn't to question. The Freeshooter worked his tasks in his own way, and as before with the first group, Xemnas permitted the man his freedom. They were after all on the same side, serving the same goal, the same heart.

A voice lacking security behind it rang out, breaking the focus that Xemnas had taken to over the state of the town. While it was unfortunate that the world of an seeming infinite sun was turned into this ghost city, Xemnas knew it would still have its uses in the coming future. His burned orange eyes set sights upon a figure wearing the cloak of the Thirteen, and immediately the farce of a smile was wiped from his face. Silently he observed the individual beneath the dark shroud of his hood, taking in the intriguing amount of behavior coming from the raven haired girl. Initially he had no memory of this one, but the more he watched, and listened as she spoke, the more he began to recall how much this girl reminded him of Number Thirteen. He saw traits of Sora inside this girl's reaction to the state of the world, and a small tug formed at the corner of The Superior's lips as he smirked again. As the raven haired girl questioned the source behind her sanctuary's destruction, Xemnas approached from her flank with a calm stride.

"How unfortunate, indeed. Though what would one do with such information, without the power to use it?" spoke The Superior in regard to Xion's outspoken question. He swept a hand out to gesture to the town's appearance, and the remains of the dark power's aftermath that had swept across this once peaceful place. "You have been gone some time; the worlds are not as you remember them during your time in the Organization, Xion." He added a tone to the sound of the name she had been nicknamed with, rather than simply dub her as the mere Replica project that she was. The appearance of this specimen was intriguing to say the least, and Xemnas wanted to test the extent of the use this meeting would serve. Rather than talk down to and kick the poor doll around like Saix would, Xemnas saw more benefit in approaching this one as an individual over a thing. He would indulge this facade of treating the doll in a civil manner, but so long as it would suffice to his need.

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She was torn...she felt like she had been shredded into a barely-pieced together remnant of the person she was. Shredded like the lives and homes of the people who inhabited this World..this sanctuary. Former sanctuary. Now a graveyard filled with ruined hopes, desolated dreams, shadowed uncertainties, horrified and angered souls of those who once lived here and those who still tried to. How could this have happened...when had it happened...who had done this, committed such a horrible horrible act?? Xion felt tears fall...was it possible? She was crying..something that should be impossible for Nobodies. But she was...she was shedding tears for the lost peace and hope and safety of Twilight Town..for those who had suffered greater loss: of life, of home, of hope.

No-one should have to lose that...not one being should have to lose the certainty of peace and life...of happiness..of security. No-one. Whether they were meant to exist or not..those who didn't hurt anyone with their existence should have a right to their habitats..their sought-out sanctuaries...and those who already had existed here should never have been wronged. They should have been left to their own lives, allowed to remain undisturbed. The ones who had done this unspeakable ruin to the World would pay..they had to. Someone had to make things right.

Sniffing, Xion rubbed a cloaked arm across her face to wipe away the tears on her face. But what could she do? How could she help? Sure, she had spells.. Cure could help those who were hurt...but it wouldn't heal the hurt left by this crime..this destruction. They would carry the wounds...and she would too. She had chosen this World as a home...a place she knew would always be the same. And to come back to find that it had been destroyed; it felt like the world was crumbling around her. She clung to memories, seeking out comfort from them, trying to remember the way the sunset had lit this World...how everything had looked...but the damage that she had seen would not be swayed. It was much like a hit in the face...or someone roughly jerking a dreamer from sleep. The world they had dreamed forever no longer existed. Instead it was scorched and scarred and crumbling, bloodstained and filled with the fear and despair of those who survived, lingering on. But somehow..she would help make things right...but how? Just how...?

"How unfortunate, indeed. Though what would one do with such information, without the power to use it?"

And then....just when she felt that everything was at its worst...the sudden voice speaking behind her wrested her focus from the pain of the World to the presence that was overwhelmingly close...and approaching. With immense dread and new-growing horror, Xion recognized that presence. It had haunted her dreams, lingered in the Castle of the World that Never Was...a gloom in the back of her mind that she had shut out and locked up. The very darkness she had thought she would escape, never see again.


The Superior...!

The nickname for the one she had formerly known as leader of the Organization sprang to mind without bidding..she fought not to tremble as she slowly, slowly stood, forcing her limbs to be solid, to stand firm. She would not show weakness..she would not give him power.. He continued speaking, though, standing very close. This gave her a little time to gather her wits, resettle to face this new terror that had arisen..

"You have been gone some time; the worlds are not as you remember them during your time in the Organization, Xion."

She didn't know if he knew how long she had been roaming the Worlds..but she wasn't about to let him know. He could simply assume she had only recently returned..omitting information was a game that everyone could play at, she had discovered. The Superior's speaking of her name had an odd inflection to it, though...almost as if he saw her as someone, rather than the puppet she knew he knew she was...

Had been. Had..been. She had made someone of herself. Made friends, made memories that were hers, and hers alone. But something deep inside her still whispered, still prickled with a tiny seed of something she could not quite understand..but had locked away and denied. It would not get strength from her..

"X-Xemnas..."

She could barely speak...what was wrong with her?? Biting her lip in frustration, Xion forced herself to keep looking at her Former Superior. His presence shook her horribly inside, but she would retain an outward stance of the expected wariness and probably an expression of unsubsided fear..for she was afraid of the former leader...he was mysterious, even had been so to those in the Organization. So he was unpredictable..but she knew he had motives. What were they this time..?

Trying again, Xion swallowed quickly and refocused.

"I would find those who did this to the people of this World...and make them pay. Even if it was one at a time...I would make sure things were right."

There was no reason to lie about that. He surely knew just how much this World had meant to her...so she would just be plain with her words. Nothing needed to be kept secret...yet. Play the game..until the information is gained. Play the game...

She would play, too...she would not be the puppet.

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Xemnas observed the replica's reaction to his presence, and how best she attempted to keep her composure. Though with how his very name was uttered with a stutter, it became immediately apparent to him that she was intimidated. The fake Nobody remembered the commanding aura that was given off by the former Number One, or at least this was a given shown example by her behavior. As intriguing it was that she remembered him at all, it was to be expected just as easily as the lack of memory surrounding the raven haired doll. Memories returned with ease though, much like with anything else that could be lost in the worlds. It was an unforeseen variable that Xion would become separated from Sora and Roxas once more, and posed an interesting question to the Superior of the Interstice. The Superior hypothesized that something must have occurred following the Organization's last meeting, and the sleep the boy had been put into possibly had an effect on him. The other that remained dormant inside Sora, the face he recalled was similar to Roxas, had possibly been awakened as a result of Riku's meddling.

A dry wind passed across the Plaza that he now stood in, kicking up a layer of dust that had been created from the ruined Station's foundation. As Xemnas felt the unwelcome breeze ruffle the leather and chains of the cloaks they wore, he continued to stare down the replica that had failed her purpose. The separation of the other heart inside Sora was no doubt the cause of her presence, and if she was running free as a living entity, then it would be certain Roxas was as well. Were they cultivating replacement hearts much like himself? Did their dispositions vary from one another as they did before? It was a curious thought worth exploring, one possibly worthy of the Organization's time, or perhaps simply just his own.

Xemnas followed Xion's former focus, turning his sights to the flawed face of the Clock Tower, simply to ascertain the reason of her mocked anguish. This was probably the site of escape she took during any downtime between former missions, where hours were spent among the company of other traitors to the group. The sight of what had become of the doll's sanctuary was justifiable in the eyes of her former Commander, for no longer would she be able to return to a place of security and peace. What the replica had considered a home was now taken from her, and now she was left with nothing in all the worlds to give that sense of security and comfort. This kind of absolution was what he expected to deliver to all enemies of the Organization, and Xemnas admired the effectiveness with which another's destruction had brought this upon the fake Nobody.

The girl's statement was one of certainty, distorted by a variety of emotion that otherwise, should have felt empty and hollow with their tone. Though the piece of Xehanort inside Xemnas could feel the intensity of her words, as though she could feel them herself, as though she had a heart. The emotion coming from Xion was indeed real. It was then that Xemnas began to confirm that his theory of cultivation was more true than his underestimation of Sora. His golden eyes shifted from the Tower back to Xion, during which gloved hands reached up to take firm grasp upon his hood. With a single motion it was swept back, revealing the long silver mane of hair, and the emotionless demeanor of the Nobody's face. A dry smirk of amusement played a farce upon his features as she revealed what her intention was; a vying threat to bring justice upon those responsible for Twilight Town's destruction. This caused Xemnas to give a deep, hollow chuckle in response to the prideful, arrogant statement of the doll.

"A meaningless effort. The inevitable will occur no matter the force that wishes to stop it," began Xemnas as he gestured out to the sunset, and the sight of the ruined Twilight Town. "Like moths to a flame, these beings of destruction were drawn to this world of peace. It would not have mattered if you stood the field, or had arrived as you have now. This town's ruination was to be assured, just as the heart that now grows within yourself." Xemnas lowered his gloved hand, and turned his sights from the town back to Xion, as he examined her reaction. There was much he could take from this scenario, much that could be learned on the Organization's behalf. If the truth of the doll possessing her own heart was absolute, then there were plenty of ties to Sora and the Other still attached to it by the Chain of Memories. As the soft chirp of a distant bird caught his ear, Xemnas was further convinced this encounter would not bear interference from his enemies.

"Perhaps you were capable; would you stand as firm in your determination, before the heat of vengeance itself?" asked Xemnas cryptically. He of course aimed to ask Xion, whether she would retain that anger against those who had truly wronged and destroyed the citizens of Twilight Town. While his motives remained hidden, he was certain to be able to gauge Xion's position against those whom identities remained a mystery to them both. Xemnas in truth did not care for whoever laid waste to this world, viewing it as a simple beneficial result to the progress of Xehanort's plan. The capturing of the Seven Princesses of Heart continued to go unnoticed by their enemies. Xemnas was more than confident that the raven haired doll knew nothing of it, just as she knew nothing of the full extent of his powers.

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Xemnas's presence had a way of smothering a person's confidence...of making them question their own thoughts, their own affirmations..as Xion was discovering. She hadn't really spent a lot of time face-to-face with the Former Superior before, while still a part of the Organization. In the moments when they had all gathered to listen to him speak, the girl had caught glimpses of the persuasive and commanding influence that Xemnas had held over them all. She too, had been under that control. It had felt right to do the missions they were told to do. She too had believed in the power of Kingdom Hearts.

And then things had started whispering doubts inside her. Questions whose answers didn't come freely, but had to be sought out in secrecy, without her being caught. She had felt an insistent need to keep her researching quiet, unnoticed..and she knew now why that had been. This power and intimidation she could literally feel flowing from her former Superior...it was not something to be crossed. If so, only by the strongest and most confident...or those who could hide away easily without detection. Could she herself do that? She had been able to disobey commands before, but that was without any other members present besides Roxas and herself. And somehow she felt that it had been her purpose to defeat and absorb Roxas.... but that couldn't have been right, could it? And yet, she and her friend had battled here...in this very spot... Not for his existence, but to end hers. She had tried so hard not to have it come to that...but Roxas had been her last hope. And he had not failed..

But that had passed...so long ago. Why now did the questioning doubts begin to whisper only when the Former Superior returned? What did he know? What could he tell her....what information was concealed in the mind of the former leader?

However, her gaze traveled the ruined remains of her sanctuary, and Xion felt the determination only build. She would stand against those who did this...and even him..though when that would be she didn't know. All she knew was that Xemnas seemed quite at ease with this destruction..and probably saw it to his advantage. How could he use it....?

Xemnas chuckled at her words...and she shifted her gaze to his still-cloaked figure, only to discover that he had pulled back his hood to reveal the face she knew so well...the silver mane of hair, the burning golden eyes that seemed to see into the depths of the mind and heart; though Xion wasn't convinced he truly could, it was simply an unsettling thought, made even more unsettling by the knowledge he held.

He spoke, gesturing out at the sunset and the ruined World. Those who had done this would have eventually come here anyways? Was peace not to be tolerated? Some people wanted just to be left alone, to their own means and lives. But it was not the first part that surprised her...it was the second. A heart...? Her hand went to rest on her chest, blue eyes confused. She was a creation from memories...and though she vehemently argued that she was no longer a puppet (and she wasn't!) she knew her origins. Could it be true? Or was it a trick...manipulation once again?

Xion felt several emotions rise at the thought that she could have a Heart...that she could truly exist the way she fought to believe she could. She wanted to believe it...but to think that it could be true..? Feelings tumbled: doubt, mistrust, disbelief...but hope still shone. She could truly be Someone, not just a Nobody?

While trying to sort this out, Xion realized that her former Superior was watching her...it was almost like she could feel that burning gaze. Shifting her stance, Xion fought down the uprising of emotions. Returning her blue gaze to the golden eyes of the former leader, Xion was determined not to be played or manipulated, but the confusion was one he certainly would understand. Let him think that she believed him..maybe she could gain something from a response.

"A Heart? I can't have a Heart. You know that better than anyone....since you know how I was made. You were part of the Project, Superior. How could I have my own heart?"

It was a simple acknowledgement..though slight, it was recognition of one who had enabled her creation..her existence. Though she had come farther in her forming of her own existence and being than she had been that day she had met the Organization. She was much more now than she had been.

His next speaking was looking for affirmation of her words about vengeance..seeking out those who had committed this horrific act of ruin. Though it was simple enough, was there more to it? Or not? Was she being overly suspicious? She couldn't tell..

"If I were able to...I would confront them."

She wasn't quite sure what she would do once she confronted them, but she knew she would not let this World go without a fight. However...at the moment something inside her whispered against the anger of the ruin.. helping clean up would be more aid to the World that had been so deeply wounded. She felt the wound as surely as if she had been attacked, rather than Twilight Town. How was she supposed to know what to do? She wanted to fight...but they needed help, too. She was confused..angry..and hurt.