//------------------------------//
// Chain/Days: Reunion 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Larxene, Marluxia, and Axel looked at the screens that were in front of them, allowing them to monitor the hallways and chambers of Castle Oblivion, while saying nothing, as it was hard to comprehend why Sombra was here, instead of in the Darkworld, and the fact that she was able to wipe out two of their members like it was nothing, and Axel was the first one to move.

"Where do you think you're going?" Marluxia asked, more out of curiosity and less like he was the Lord of Castle Oblivion, giving orders to his underlings, because right now he didn't know what to do, especially not when he thought about the fact that Riku was even stronger than the reports claimed, meaning if they fought the group they might perish as well.

"I'm getting Sora's group and then I'm going to visit Sombra." Axel replied, where he couldn't help but shudder at the mere thought of clashing with the dark Keyblade wielder, as she held the power to go toe to toe with someone that Vexen had said was Xemnas' other half, his Heartless, and if that was the case he really didn't want to tangle with her, "You two are free to do whatever you want, but I would recommend coming with... this might be our best chance of survival."

Larxene glanced at the screens for a moment, where it looked like Sombra was walking out of Zexion's area with a tome that had to be one of the now slain Nobody's unbound lexicons, as one was his main weapon and the rest appeared to be more books for him to read, as she wondered what to do. There was a small part of her that wanted to fight her, to see if the dark figure really was as strong as everyone thought she was, but at the same time she knew it was basically suicide at this point, as many of their members regarded Sombra as the greatest threat to the Organization, which was why the rest of her was of the opinion to not engage the dangerous being. That made her wonder if Axel was going to use Sora's group as leverage to lower Sombra's defenses for a short period of time, allowing them a single chance to break her defenses and take her down before she could do anything to them, and yet her heart wasn't in it, to use an expression that some people used. In fact she could see that Marluxia was thinking the same thing she was, that either this was to weaken Sombra's defenses or the other Nobody was going to play the middle group and go neutral so he didn't get wiped out.

In the end Larxene sighed as she stepped away from the console and joined Axel in leaving the chamber, only for him to be surprised when even Marluxia followed him, causing him to nod as they headed back to the dining room and found that Sora, Radiant, and the others were patiently waiting in their chairs.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but our plans have changed. If you would come with us, we can help you out." Marluxia said, as he had intended for some sort of meal to be prepared and delivered to this room for their guests, to show them that they could be trusted, but now that Zexion was gone, who was the best cook among the members in this castle, he knew a meal was out of the question, not without getting takeout.

"Did something happen?" Sora asked, because he had been hoping for a nice warm meal, in fact he missed Sombra's food most of all right now, but if the plan had changed it made him wonder what could have made the lord of the castle and his allies do such a thing in the first place.

"Yeah, you could say that... we're not sure how they got in, but Sombra, Riku, and two others found their way into the castle's basement." Larxene replied, as she didn't see a reason to lie to the boy right now, rather she felt that telling him the truth was the best thing right now, while Marluxia and Axel started to head down the hallway with her and the group following closely behind them, "Three of our allies attacked them and were wiped out... we're going to talk with them and see what happens next."

That surprised Sora, as he wasn't expecting to catch up with Sombra and Riku so soon after they sealed the Door that Ansem had been interested in opening, and sealed away his Kingdom Hearts at the same time, but that didn't stop him, Radiant, or their friends from walking behind the trio. Such a thing allowed Radiant to see that the trio were worried, which made sense due to the fact that Sombra could be an imposing person at times and that if someone had attacked her it was possible that their hosts must have witnessed it in some manner, hence their expressions. It made her wonder if they were planning on attacking Sombra after bringing them to her and her group, which was a bad move when she thought about it, though she was also interested in the number of people in Sombra's group, as one of the other two had to be Mickey, leaving a fourth unknown member. It made her wonder who her friends had found while they were stuck in the Darkworld, even though she knew that they would find out soon enough, since it seemed like they were heading to where Sombra's group was located.

It didn't take them too long to reach a large chamber that looked like it could be used for a battleground of some kind, a fact that Radiant hoped didn't come to pass since she thought that Marluxia was an okay person to be near, while she was unsure on the other two that were standing near him. While they came to a stop another door opened and they found that another group entered the area without delay, where she discovered that it was Riku's, as Mickey was standing next to him, along with an oddly dressed blue haired lady who seemed like a Keyblade wielder as well, as Radiant was sure one had been in her hand before they entered this chamber. As she considered what this might mean, however, there was a howl from one of the other two doors and she found that an interesting wolf showed up, with red markings on it, though standing near it was a girl that reminded her of Kairi, and Sombra was with them. It appeared that the wolf must have tracked Sombra down and brought her to the other girl, who were entering from the door that was opposite of the one Marluxia had walked through with his companions, making Radiant wonder what might happen next.

Axel stepped forward and flames danced as he summoned his chakrams, Marluxia had flowers surge as his scythe came into being, and lightning flashed as Larxene called forth her knives, where the trio stepped forward as Sombra moved into the center of the area, causing them to stare at each other for a time... where Axel sighed as he lightly tossed both of his weapons to the ground and lowered himself to one knee.

"Axel... what are you doing?" Marluxia asked, because he had assumed the plan was to attack Sombra while her guard was lowered, in some attempt to salvage this situation, even though he found that none of the others seemed to be moving at the moment, like they were watching and waiting for Sombra to make the first move.

"What does it look like? Surrendering... there's no way we can win against her." Axel replied, as he knew that Sombra was far too strong for them, if she was able to fight on par with someone that was the other half of their own boss, meaning she had the power to go toe to toe with Xemnas and could potentially win, "If we want to survive this we must surrender... that's all there is to it."

Marluxia stood there for a few seconds as he and Larxene thought about it, and what they had seen previously, before he sighed and set his scythe down on the floor as well, something that caused his friend to do the same thing before she frowned and followed his lead, showing Sombra that they were willing to stand down as well, though as they did that the fourth and final door opened as Seras and Noir entered the castle.

"Oh good, I was worried that something would have happened before I arrived." Seras said, though she was glad that both Roxas and Xion were back in the main castle, resting for whatever mission Saix might have in store for them, while at the same time she was glad that her friends were just fine as well.

"Well, three members of the Organization have fallen... that reminds me, I think it's time to go." Sombra replied, where she made her way towards the door and found that it lead outside, so while this wasn't the main entrance it was connected in a way to the doorway that she was sure that Sora's group had walked through earlier, before she glanced back at the trio that had decided to stand down, "Oh, and you guys are welcome to come with us."

Larxene found that Sombra was able to call the Gummi Ship that belonged to Sora's group to the outer edge of where the castle was located, allowing all four groups to warp aboard as she had the boy move them out a little, which he did not even a few seconds later, placing them further away from Castle Oblivion. After that Sombra smiled as she used her magic on the castle and on part of the ship, where she and the other Nobodies found that she formed a new door in the hallway that housed all of the rooms, even though it seemed like she was actually expanding that level at the same time. Once that was done Seras took over and explained what was going on, that Xemnas was using them to form Kingdom Hearts so he could gain power, meaning the Organization was nothing but pawns for him, hence why she was secretly working within the group to learn more information and bring him down when it was time to do so. Larxene and the others suspected that there was a whole lot more to the story, even though they found that Sombra started to work in the kitchen for some reason, all while Namine was happy to no longer be trapped inside her room in Castle Oblivion.

Seras also explained that she was trying to see who was actually purely loyal to Xemnas and who she might be able to save from his madness, and, since both Larxene and Marluxia were her friends, she had been hoping to save them as well, hence why she was happy to see that they were well when she arrived. In addition to that she was sure that Axel was fine with what they were doing, since he had been the first to realize that fighting Sombra was a bad idea, though the figure in question admitted that the reason Saix assigned him to Castle Oblivion was to route out the traitor and take them down, for the good of the Organization. Marluxia admitted that they had been planning on utilizing a plan that involved Sora so they could take control of the rest of the Organization, but since he and Larxene now knew that Xemnas no longer trusted them, enough to send an assassin to confirm their plans and kill them, the pair realized there was no reason for them to remain under Xemnas' thumb. With that in mind Seras asked if they wanted to join the expanding group, as it seemed like Sombra was gaining a following that could equal whatever darkness Xemnas was working towards, or Master Xehanort as Aqua told them that they were sure he was behind this in some manner.

Sombra eventually called the discussion to an end as she served a massive meal, at least twice the size of what she was used to making, and made sure Donald remembered that he was forbidden from eating the desserts for a long time, all while she smiled as she found the new Nobodies reacting in sure surprise to her food. It was a common thing, that those who ate her food wondered how she could make such wonderful meals while also being such a skilled warrior, but after so long of hearing such a thing she decided to stop explaining it and just take the praise. For the time being her plan was to lure Xemnas into a false sense of security, give Roxas and Xion time to grow, and for that to work Seras would be going back to give a false report of sorts, and with Axel willing to join in they could make Saix believe it to be the truth. With even Namine willing to aid them there was a greater chance of this working, though while they were doing that, and working with Roxas and Xion, Sora and his friends would be training with Aqua until Sombra was sure it was time to attack.

Such a thing caused her to smile again as she looked forward to hearing about how Xemnas and the others reacted to the news they would be hearing in the near future, all while she focused on the new room she had added to the ship and the contents that were inside it, as things were about to get that much more interesting for all of them.





Seras and Axel returned to the main castle early the following morning, when they knew that only three members of the Organization, those being Xemnas, Saix, and potentially Xigbar, would be active, and sure enough a Dusk noticed them and rushed off to inform their superiors, which was why Saix, at least, approached them.

"Axel, why are you here? You should be with the others in Castle Oblivion." Saix asked, because this was strange in his eyes, the Nobody in question wasn't supposed to be back until either his mission was complete or Lord Xemnas called him back for some reason, and he could see that their Lord was walking towards them, "And you, Seras, you should be asleep right now so you can be ready for today's mission."

"You should be thankful I went out in the first place, since I discovered something important: Sombra's decimated Castle Oblivion." Seras replied, as the plan was to make it seem like Sombra had wiped out the castle and everyone else, while Axel was the only one to emerge unscathed, and she could tell that both Nobodies were surprised by this information, as they assumed Sombra was trapped in the Darkworld, "I'm not sure how she got into the castle, but she did and she took out all of the other members that were assigned to the castle... Axel was spared since Marluxia had assigned him to scout out the area, so he could find Sora."

"Unfortunately it seems like Namine has disappeared as well, though it feels like she's put Sora to sleep." Axel added, as his part of things was to make it seem like the members of the Organization that weren't present anymore had done their job, disrupting things and taking Sora out of the picture, and so far it looks like they were buying the story, "Also, my own mission has been completed: there was no traitor, as the five members assigned to the castle with me were working to complete their own tasks when they were annihilated. Our comrades were loyal to the very end."

"I see. I will be expecting a full report later." Saix stated, because this was just the highlights of the report, though he found that it was odd that none of the members assigned to Castle Oblivion ended up being a traitor to their cause, in fact that was why Axel had been assigned there in the first place, so he could route them out and then kill them, and since he said that in Seras' presence that meant he trusted her as well, a good thing in his mind.

"It is sad that we have lost such loyal comrades... that we have lost some of our friends." Xemnas remarked, which was a concern in his mind, as he expected one or more of them to have survived in the event that Sombra, somehow, found her way to the castle, but she had and no one but Axel had survived the encounter, all due to being lucky, and he had to admit that he felt funny, "I grieve for their passing."

"Lord Xemnas... are you alright?" Seras inquired, because as their boss said that she, Axel, and Saix were surprised to see that there were tears running down his face, where Xemnas raised a hand to his face, felt the tears, and seemed totally caught off guard by such a thing, before he steeled himself.

"Yes. It would appear that Nothingness has manifested my sadness, for a time." Xemnas replied, though this came as quite the surprise for him, as he knew that Nobodies couldn't feel anything, hence them constantly faking every emotion they showed, but he knew that his power couldn't have done this, rather it was as if part of his heart had come back, which was alarming for him, "I will return to my chambers and contemplate what this means for us. Saix, order some of the Dusk to confirm Axel's report... it's not that I don't trust you, I just want to confirm it before we announce that our friends have fallen."

Seras and Axel bowed their heads as their superiors departed from the area, allowing them to return to their rooms for a time, though at the same time this was good news for them, because it meant Sombra's plan was working, though it did come with some unexpected side effects. Sombra came to an interesting conclusion after their meal, that the Nobodies did, in fact, have hearts and that meant if they returned to their original form, like if Seras rejoined with Fluttershy, the original would have both hearts inside them, meaning it was possible to free the second heart without turning the first into a Heartless. It had come as quite the surprise to Seras, not to mention Larxene and Marluxia, though her friends had decided to remain in the Gummi Ship as they came to terms with the fact that they had hearts, and that they were nothing more than pawns to the Organization, but seeing Xemnas like that made her wonder if this news had actually hurt him, as if he was being truthful about mourning his friends. If that was true, and he was actually sad over losing those sent to the second castle, it made her wonder how he would react to the rest of Sombra's plan, but decided to say nothing about that as she and her companion headed to their own rooms for the time being.

Such a thing made both of them wonder what the future might hold for them, their friends, and the rest of the Nobodies in the Organization, and how Sombra would react to whatever happened in the Organization and the rest of the worlds that they would be exploring in the future.