Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Chain/Days: Changes

After visiting with Namine, and getting to see Castle Oblivion, Seras found that her mission was to team up with Larxene again while Roxas would be paired up with Axel, though Xion would be assisting Saix on his mission, meaning she might be the one lagging behind her and Roxas, in terms of success. Of course there wasn't much she could do for the other Nobody, due to the fact that she wasn't being assigned missions with her, though something told her that such a thing might change in the future, simple because she and Roxas had worked with most of the other members so far. The only ones she hadn't worked with in some manner were Xion, Saix, and Xemnas himself, everyone else she had been assigned to work with for a time, either with Roxas or on her own, so all she could do was listen to the others and help Xion whenever they were back in the main castle. Seras also knew that the day would come when she was sent out fully on her own missions, instead of being sent out with one or more of the other members, so for the time being she decided to enjoy her time with Larxene or even Marluxia, since they were the ones she was the closest to.

Of course there was something on her mind, the fact that Namine's power was Memory and that Xemnas claimed that all could be affected by her power, almost like he was trying to hide something, but there was no concrete evidence for her to even assume such a thing, rather it was just her thoughts on the matter. She was sure that Namine wasn't a prisoner, despite the fact that her room didn't have a whole lot of personal items, but that could be due to the fact that she was still new to Xemnas and the other members of the Organization, since she was just as old as she, Roxas, and Xion were. It was an interesting thing to think about, the last new Nobody and her odd power, information that Sombra might find interesting once Seras told her what she had discovered, but that was some time away since she didn't want to draw attention to what she was doing. She could also task her Vampire with delivering the information to her other allies, but for right now she figured it would be best to only do that every now and then, since someone going into the Darkworld too often would draw the attention of Xemnas and Saix.

With that in mind she turned her attention back to their mission as both she and Larxene stepped out into another portion of Twilight Town, which appeared to be the forest that was right outside the town, while also being outside a mansion that seemed like it was deserted, since it was a fair walk to reach it.

"So we're just hunting one of the stronger Heartless today. A 'Stealth Sneak' as Saix called it." Larxene said, where she drew her knives for a moment as she glanced around the surrounding area, searching for something that might be moving in the shadows, while at the same time Seras held a hand out as her Keyblade appeared as she sought out the familiar signs that suggested the Heartless in question was nearby.

"A familiar foe. Good to know." Seras remarked, because Fluttershy had fought such a Heartless back on Tarzan's world and now it was her turn to fight one with her own friend, though the only difference was that there was nothing for the creature in question to hunt or obey in this world, so it was just wandering around, looking for hearts, "Last time I saw one of these creatures it was in the Coliseum, as my original self fought them in the arena with Sora and the others, and the last time one had been fought outside of that area it had a number of Powerwilds near it. This time it seems like it's only the Stealth Sneak that we're hunting."

Larxene said nothing to that as she followed Seras' lead, she was, after all, the expert when it came to fighting Heartless, at least between the two of them, where they started to explore the forest that was around them, or maybe it was a small woods, since it seemed odd for there to be a forest so close to a town. As they carefully walked around the area Seras also found what appeared to be light footprints in the ground, which looked just like the ones that would belong to their target, causing her to beckon to her friend for a moment and Larxene nodded, as now she knew that their target was definitely in the area. She knew that the easiest way to draw the creature out would be if there was someone in the area for it to attack so it could get their heart, but she wasn't about to go into the town and drag an innocent person out here to draw out the Stealth Sneak, something she wouldn't have to worry about as she found the air twisting as her Vampire appeared, likely to report his success to her before delivering the information to Xemnas or Saix. Such a thing did exactly what she had been expecting it to do, something in the shadows moved as it rushed towards the Vampire, who smiled as he thrust his right elbow back and struck the Stealth Sneak before it could even attack him.

Seras beckoned to Larxene and her friend understood what to do next as she charged her knives before hurling them at the Heartless, stunning the creature while shocking it so it would be unable to move, something that allowed Seras to rush at it and swing her Keyblade at it, cutting it down before it even had a chance to retreat, releasing another heart while her friend landed nearby.

"Mistress, I have scouted the assigned worlds and have compiled my notes on them." the Vampire said, where he knelt for a moment as he pulled out a pile of papers that he presented to Seras, who dismissed her Keyblade as she took them and looked over them for a couple of seconds, while Larxene just stared at him.

"Wait... your High Rank can talk?!" Larxene asked, because she had never seen like that before, none of the High Ranks could do what the Vampire was doing, making her wonder if he might have been close to becoming a full member of the Organization had Xemnas gotten to him first, even though the Vampire was called to be Seras' servant and soldier, just like all of the others for the other members, "That's... kind of cool, actually. You do know that you can deliver them to our boss, right?"

"Oh, he does, but Noir prefers to let me look at them, to verify that they're ready for Saix, before delivering them." Seras replied, where she looked over the information and found that some of them were for the worlds that Fluttershy and the others had been to, while others were for new worlds she had no idea about, ones that looked interesting to her, before she straightened the papers and returned them to her Vampire, "Deliver these to Saix immediately."

Noir smiled as how bowed his head, before standing up and collecting the notes from her, allowing him to vanish as he used his ability to return to the main castle, while at the same time Seras noted that the heart from the Stealth Sneak had been claimed by shadows, Sombra's calling card, causing her to turn back to Larxene.

"You know, I'm honestly going to miss the insane things that you seem to get up to." Larxene remarked, as that was part of why she liked hanging out with Seras, things were fun when she worked with her friend, and she could see that Seras was confused by her choice of words, which Larxene knew was due to the fact that the formal announcement had yet to be made yet, "I've been assigned to Castle Oblivion, effective early tomorrow morning, and that means that me and a few others, likely Marluxia as far as I know, will be there for some time. We'll receive a full briefing once everyone is gathered, but I suspect that we'll be defending Namine while doing something that will benefit the Organization."

"I see. Well, I'm going to miss the two of you while you're gone... so, let's get some ice cream and relax before we head back to the main castle." Seras said, because the best she could do for her friend was just have a relaxing afternoon before they headed back to their main base of operations, to take Larxene's mind off of the fact that she wasn't going to be able to go out on missions with her for some time.

Larxene let out a laugh as they did just that, visited the same shop that she knew Axel frequented and purchased a few sticks of ice cream, before moving up to one of the rooftops so they could look out over the rest of Twilight Town and just relax for a time. While they did so Seras noticed that both Roxas and Axel were up on their usual spot on the clock tower, where she knew that if one of them was being assigned to Castle Oblivion, like Larxene, they were telling their friend the same thing she had just been told. At the same time she knew that Xemnas needed all Keyblade wielders on hand to find and collect hearts, so Roxas wouldn't have been chosen for this mission, just like how she and Xion wouldn't have been picked either, so if anyone was going it was likely Axel. In the end she decided not to worry about it too much, though at the same time she had to wonder if this would be the event that allowed Sombra to make her first move against the rest of the Organization, just like she claimed when they last talked to each other, before she and Larxene eventually returned to the castle to finish off their day.

Following that Seras found that a number of their members assembled in the Grey Room, where many of them relaxed during their time off, and as they departed for Castle Oblivion she discovered that there were six members leaving for the other castle, those being Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Axel, Marluxia, and Larxene.

Sure enough not everyone had been told about the assignment, as those like Xigbar and Demyx had no idea that some of their members were being assigned to Castle Oblivion, not until they read a note that Saix had left on one of the windows, and Roxas, of course, just stared at it for a time. Seras knew the feeling, especially since her own friends were going to the other castle as well, though there wasn't a lot they could do about the situation, something that caused her to focus on all of the missions they were going to have to do to compensate for the lack of manpower. She found that Luxord was also slightly unhappy with the fact that those he played cards with had been sent to the castle, while at the same time Demyx just did what he always did, pulled out his sitar, which doubled as his weapon, and started to play it, while earning a frown from Xigbar again. Seras was almost sure that this was a game to the two of them, like there was more to both of them than they were showing the rest of the Organization, but decided not to worry about that for the time being as she found Xion standing near the window, likely lost in thought.

Eventually Saix entered the room and some of the others glanced at him for a moment, knowing that their rest time was up and that they would be sent out on new missions, which was what they did every day based on what Seras had seen so far, though this time he beckoned to both her and Roxas for a moment.

"Roxas, from this day forward you will be working alongside Xion to execute missions, and today Seras will join you." Saix stated, something that came as a surprise for Seras since she figured that the three of them would be assigned to totally different missions, instead of being brought together for one that might not need multiple wielders, where she also found that Xion walked over to where the pair was standing, "Seras will be in charge today, but every other day you, Roxas, will be in charge during these missions."

"Rox... as. Ser... as." Xion said, which was the first time Seras had heard the other Nobody talk, in fact even Saix was taken aback by this discovery, where she pulled back her hood and revealed that she, just like Namine, resembled Kairi for some odd reason, even though she was different as well, even though she had short black hair that was parted differently than the other two, "Roxas, Seras, let us work hard today."

Saix stood there for a moment as Seras opened a Dark Corridor and all three of them departed for their mission, though he waited for a few more minutes as Demyx and the others departed as well, before he used his own portal to warp up to the summit, where he found Xemnas staring at Kingdom Hearts once more.

"Lord Xemnas, there has been a development: Xion is talking and has taken on her chosen form." Saix said, because this was something their boss needed to know, as it meant that Vexen was wrong in his assumptions on how long it would take for a replica to take on a unique form and personality, causing Xemnas to turn towards him.

"Already? While this is good news, it is also sooner than we were told... I cannot help but wonder if Seras' presence has, in fact, accelerated certain things." Xemnas remarked, as he agreed with the unspoken statement that Saix had likely come up with before he decided to come inform him of what was going on, both of them had been expecting Xion to develop in the next week or so, but yet her form was now locked in and she was speaking, far ahead of schedule, before he stopped to wonder if there might be an easier explanation, "Or is this the result of Namine helping us? A number of odd things have happened within the last week, and I cannot help but wonder if they are all connected."

"The arrival of several new High Ranks, one of which is even stronger than even the Sorcerers, the potential change in the power Namine wields, and now Xion has awakened ahead of Vexen's projections." Saix commented, as that was three odd events in the span that Xemnas had mentioned, and that wasn't counting the fact that Sombra was still in the Darkworld, firing off spells at whatever she was fighting, because while she wasn't using all of her stronger spells they knew that she was somewhere in that dark and twisted world, "Something is happening. That's all I know for sure."

Xemnas nodded as he turned his gaze towards their Kingdom Hearts once more, as Xion's awakening made him wonder what sort of events the future could throw at him and their Organization, and if they would be ready for whatever storm was currently brewing in the Darkworld.

Comments

[Xalok]

And so Seras has join the start of the ice cream club.

[Black--Soul]

Ice cream... Damn now I want some to!

Seras made some great development, so has her servant.

Sombrero keeping up the charade, for how mutch longer?

[Xarmar13]

From what I can interpret about Namine's power it's that she can only affect Sora's chain of memories. This means that she can affect Sora and those connected to him while only being able to affect the memories of others that pertain to Sora. However, the weaker the connection one has to him, the lesser the extent of influence that Namine can have on them. Inversely, those with the strongest connections to Sora, such as Riku and Kairi, are also resistant to Namine's powers because of the strength of the bond.

In the case of Sombra, Namine can probably affect her memories of Sora unless Sombra has some protective spell on her memories.

[Blackdrag-rose]

11823801 That is true for Namine's canon powers. Here, she's got a power boost thanks to the fact that she's been exposed to Equestrian magic, which we know can really alter the laws of a world that a displaced is sent to. As for how she was exposed to such magic, well, just remember that Kairi's heart was resting inside Sora's body for a long period of time and had been exposed to Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant's magic, which means that Namine and Roxas are likely stronger than their canon selves during this point in the story.

[Hexan Tronic]

Welp, the castle has now been staffed. I wonder how many survivors we'll end up with.

[Black--Soul]

This chapter wants me to get ice cream all over again ...