//------------------------------//
// Interlude: Separation 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Xemnas sat in his private room for a time, a room that was nearly identical to the ones that Xigbar and the other members of Organization XIII used to sleep through the night or rest in when they were recovering from their missions, allowing him to reflect on what he had felt as he waited for the official report to arrive. Ansem, his other half, had been destroyed, he felt it thanks to the fact that his dark Kingdom Hearts had been not only accessed slightly, no doubt during the final battle, but it had also been sealed not too long after Ansem accessed it, something he had been expecting given who his other half's foes had been. Sora was a problem, that was true, but he was minor in the fact of the true danger that still existed, as Sombra was still out there and he knew the terrible truth, that as long as she was in play, in the portion of the World that his soon to be three Keyblade Wielders would be operating in, there was no way for them to gather hearts, not with her power to steal them. He still thought it was a dark and evil power, more vile than anything he had encountered in the past, and to deal with her Xemnas knew that they needed a strategy, a way to deal with her before she did serious harm to their Kingdom Hearts, or even steal all of their hard work, before he realized something.

They had someone who knew Sombra more than anyone else, which was why Xemnas resolved to have Xigbar collect one of their newest members, Seras to be exact, because there was a chance that she might know something that could help the Organization deal with their great enemy, or at least seal her somewhere until their Kingdom Hearts was complete, which was why he got up and left his room, only to find Xigbar and Vexen outside it.

"Lord Xemnas, we bring both good and bad news. The good news is that Xion is ready and can be deployed whenever you feel like adding her to the Organization." Vexen said, bowing his head slightly as their boss departed from his room and the door closed behind him, though they didn't have to worry about the other members listening in since they were the only ones in the hallway right now, before he looked at his notes for a moment, "Now normally this next bit of news would be good as well, but given who did the deed I'm classifying it as 'bad' news for the time being: Ansem's been taken out and his Kingdom Hearts has been sealed, if the readings are to be believed."

"Yes, I felt the same thing not too long ago. It would seem that my other half has been defeated, and the fruit of his labors sealed before he could use his dark Kingdom Hearts." Xemnas stated, where he wasn't worried about saying this to the pair, as Xigbar was his right hand and that meant he knew far more about him than anyone else, while Vexen didn't seem to care all that much about the truth he had just said, "Make sure Xion is ready to be introduced this afternoon, as three Wielders will be far better than two... however, that does not eliminate the immediate threat to our Organization, but I do have an idea: we use the Dark Corridors and trap Sombra in the Darkworld."

"Are you sure that this idea is wise? She fought and beat Ansem in an area that's almost identical to the Darkwould, at least in terms of dark energy." Xigbar inquired, as he had to wonder if this was a bad idea, because while he agreed that dealing with Sombra was the best course of action right now, given her terrifying power to capture hearts, he wondered if trying to send their foe to the realm of pure Darkness would only make things worse for them in the end, especially after how Ansem was defeated, "Of course I'll do whatever you say, as you are the leader and your word is law, just... are you absolutely used that sending her to the Darkworld is the best course of action?"

"As long as she has no other means of transport, like the Dark Corridors, we should be fine... one of the denizens of the Darkworld should be able to deal with her." Xemnas said, though while he agreed with Xigbar, that this idea seemed bad or even downright terrible, there was nothing else they could do if they wanted to deal with her, it was either this or let Sombra join the others in approaching Castle Oblivion, and if the latter happened he knew that anyone sent there would be annihilated without a chance to tamper with Sora's memories.

Vexen and Xigbar glanced at each other for a moment, as they were unsure of this decision, before nodding, showing their boss that they understood the orders that were being given to them, which meant the best course of action would be to get Seras involved since she was on their side and might distract Sombra enough to fulfill their objective. With that in mind Xemnas decided that it was time to call a short meeting so they could introduce Xion to the rest of the Organization, while at the same time he had Xigbar track Axel down, as he was one of the faster members and might be able to escape if their plan ended up failing. While they walked down the hallway, however, he felt something behind him and noticed nothing when he looked back for a moment, almost if he had imagined that someone would dare spy on him or his allies in their own domain, before he focused on what needed to happen next. As he thought about what needed to be said he noticed how Axel was tending to Roxas, who still seemed to be in his zombie state, and even noticed Xion behind the pillar that was Roxas', while at the same time Seras and Larxene were chatting like they were old friends, with the former standing by the latter's pillar since there were only thirteen seats.

As usual the other members took their seats, his twelve companions sitting on their pillars while Seras and Xion stood by a pillar to observe, and, as Xemnas expected, everyone embraced Xion as a new ally, even though it had it's hood up, mostly a measure to make sure no one noticed it's doll-like appearance until it formed it's own true identity.

"Another girl? Man, we're really lucky, aren't we?" Larxene remarked, though there was a smile on her face, because for the longest time she had resented the fact that she was the only female Nobody in the Organization, hence why she had taken to hanging out with Seras since it meant she would no longer alone, and now she was happy for there to be three of them in the Organization.

"Indeed. We are lucky to have her as one of our many allies." Xemnas said, where the switch from 'it' to 'she' was due to the fact that he really didn't want the others to know that they had a way to produce dolls that could become Nobodies, or even a person for that matter, because it would cause chaos to erupt among the ranks, "That is all for now. You are free to return to what you were doing previously. Seras, a word before you leave?"

Seras stood there for a moment and promised Larxene that she wouldn't be long, causing her friend to nod as she and all of the others departed, leaving just her, Xemnas, and Axel for some odd reason, though after a few seconds she could feel Xigbar hiding behind one of the pillars.

"So, Xigbar said that you had something you wanted us to do?" Axel inquired, where Seras glanced at the red haired figure for a moment and knew that he had left the chamber for a time, to make sure Roxas was fine, before returning, though both of them were definitely curious as to what their leader wanted from them.

"First, a bit of information: Ansem has been destroyed, and his dark Kingdom Hearts has been sealed." Xemnas replied, as he knew that Seras had been part of Sombra's group at one point, before she was separated from Fluttershy, though she showed no reaction to the information, either because she expected such a thing to happen or she was truly like them and didn't care about those from her time as a person, while Axel seemed impressed, "As it stands Sombra and Sora are going to start on the path that bring them to Castle Oblivion in the very near future, and if they arrive together we know they'll do serious damage to the Organization... you two are going to head to the path, lure her away from Sora's group, and then use the Dark Corridors to warp her to the Darkworld. Seras, does she have any power like that?"

"Like the Dark Corridors? No, she doesn't." Seras stated, which was the truth, as far as she knew Sombra didn't have any powers like that, but there was no telling how much stronger she had gotten since Hollow Bastion, or more specifically the visit that ended with her being separated from Fluttershy, meaning this could be all for nothing if she had a power that was similar to the Dark Corridors, causing her to turn towards Axel, "You don't mind if I head out first, to get an idea of an area we can set the trap in, do you?"

"By all means. The place in question isn't the best for laying traps, too open, but maybe we'll think of something to use against Sombra." Axel stated, which he seriously doubted, this was basically a suicide mission to try and get rid of the one person who might be able to utterly destroy the entire Organization on her own, because if Sombra was able to get rid of Ansem, the other half of their boss, then he doubted that most of their group could hold a candle to her.

Xemnas smiled for a moment as Seras departed from the chamber so she could recon the area in question and figure out a way to deal with Sombra, meaning that in no time they would be able to continue their plans for Sora without having to worry about the only person that could ruin everything with her presence, causing him to look forward to what the near future held in store for the Organization.





With Ansem defeated, and his dark Kingdom Hearts sealed from both sides, Sombra and the others followed the only path that was available to them at the moment, the path that seemed to lead deeper into the darkness, or at least that was what all of them thought as they discovered a smooth dirt path, grass on either side, trees in the distance, and even a fair number of shrubs ranging from small to tall ones.

"It would seem that we've moved somewhere else... where, I'm not sure, but we're not in the space near where the Door to Darkness once rested." Sombra commented, where she was sure that they had been moved to another area, likely one of the World's blessings she guessed, though part of her attention was focused on the heart she had captured after they beat up Ansem, the strange temporal power it possessed, and the fact that there was a faint smaller power to it, the heart of the Guardian she guessed.

"Yeah, but... how do we get back to the Gummi Ship?" Radiant asked, because now that the adventure was over, or at least the first part of it she reckoned, part of their focus should be on returning to the ship to make sure Fluttershy's Heartless was okay, even though she had been left somewhere where she should be safe.

"Well, if this is like all of the other worlds we visited... find a warp spot?" Sora answered, as he had no idea, he was as lost as the others were, all while Donald and Goofy shrugged, as they hadn't been expecting to be without their ship at some point during their travels, in fact they were sure that they would have insisted that a security feature be installed if they felt like this sort of thing would have happened at some point.

Sombra had no idea at this point, in fact she wasn't sure if she could use her teleportation spell to warp them back to the last world they had docked at, before she glanced to her left a little and found that her personal screen, which she was sure that not even Radiant could see, despite being blessed by the World, said that the ship was safe. It seemed like the World was making sure Fluttershy was safe, or at least her heart, which extended to the rest of the Gummi Ship, which let her know that they were supposed to focus on something else right now, causing her to once again reflect on the heart she had just captured and the fragments that were now resting near it. There was no resonance between them, that much she could tell at a glance, and not even the Guardian's heart seemed to react to the fragments, not in a way that meant they were one and the same, meaning she would have to focus on tracking down all of the other fragments to figure out who they belonged to. It still seemed so strange for a heart to be broken up like that, like all of the light had been taken out of someone and scattered to the wind of the various worlds, or at least she assumed it was all of one element since she had yet to find a dark aspect, before she turned her attention to the path in front of them.

As they walked, however, she felt the opening of a portal, the same one that the Nobody had used during their first visit to Hollow Bastion, and Sombra paused as she found a hill that allowed them to glance out over the area, though the reason for her pause was due to the fact that there was someone in a black coat off in the distance.

"Again?! Seriously, how many times are they going to annoy me?" Sombra remarked, though instead of shifting into her final form, and altering the terrain of the area that was around them, she started to walk down the path in front of her for a time, putting some distance between her and the others, who would no doubt reach the top of the hill in no time and would likely see the end of her venture.

As she crossed the distance in no time, however, another dark portal opened to his left, without the figure moving, but she turned to the right as she felt a third one open and drew her Keyblade as she parried an incoming attack from a second black coat wearing individual, one who also had a Keyblade and wings, something that caused her to realize what was going on as they passed through the second portal, ending up in the dark realm Riku was in.

"Seras... you better have a damn good reason for doing this." Sombra remarked, speaking as her hooves touched the dark ground and found that she was actually on a beach, with an ocean to her left, while the portal closed behind Seras as she pulled her hood back, confirming that it was her, even if her Keyblade was totally different.

"I'm not here to fight you, if that's what you are wondering... Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, wanted you out of the picture so you don't reach Castle Oblivion." Seras said, though in that moment she smiled as she noticed the grin that appeared on Sombra's face, because while it might be annoying to do things like this it was good that the dreaded Queen of Darkness understood what she was currently saying, "What I can tell you is that he's planning the same as Ansem, his other half: constructing his own version of Kingdom Hearts... for what purpose, I still don't know, but we can't let him have his way, can we?"

"No, no we can't. If this 'Castle Oblivion' is so important, that means some of it's members will be sent there in due time, no doubt to deal with Sora... Radiant should be able to help him out." Sombra remarked, where she realized that there were more Nobodies than she thought, at least twelve others if she excluded both Seras and Sora's, meaning some would no doubt come under fire in the near future and this 'Xemnas' wanted her out of the picture before that happened, and as she glanced at the area around her an idea came to mind, "This place... there might be a door to this castle somewhere, which means we can launch a pincer attack on the members that are in the castle, provided we find it around the same time that Sora and the others reach it. From there we can regroup and focus on tearing down the rest of the Organization, and find Sora's Nobody while we're at it since he's likely unhappy... actually, add both of your friends to that, if they're up to repelling against Xemnas. What do you say, Seras?"

"It sounds like you have a plan... and I'm on board all the way." Seras stated, because after hearing that Xemnas wanted Sombra out of the way, all to bring about his plan for his Kingdom Hearts, she knew that the best thing to do was to ally with the one person, in all of reality, that was capable of doing lasting damage to the Organization and it's leader, to which she opened a Dark Corridor and paused for a moment, "Also, have fun fighting alongside Riku... I'm sure it'll be some time before you make it to the castle."

As Seras departed, however, Sombra heard the sounds of someone fighting nearby and chuckled as she turned towards the direction, as it looked like things were going to be interesting in the coming days and she couldn't wait to see what sort of challenges the World threw at her and the rest of her group.