An Organized Meeting [Organization XIII]

[Administrator]

All loyal members, gather at our Castle for a meeting.

The message had gone out by way of Dusk, and had spread throughout the worlds, reaching every member of the Organization who was still loyal to their goals, or possibly still loyal to their goals. Almost all of the Organization would be gathered here, and they would discuss, among other things, the event which had occurred in Radiant Garden.

Nyxar was there, as was Xemnas. Nyxar was just pacing back and forth in the white-walled room, whistling tunelessly. Xemnas, on the other hand, sat upon his throne, waiting patiently for the rest of the Organization to gather while he tuned the other Nobody out. Soon, they would all be gathered together, and then the discussion could begin.

As it were, Nyxar was too fearful of the Superior to start as conversation, and the Superior was waiting for one of his other members to return, one who hadn't been recruited recently. And so, there was silence in the throne room, while they waited for another to arrive.

Who would be first, I wonder?

[Fate]

Acquiescence
Organization XIII

At long last, the time for a meeting came. After Zexion received the message, he did not waste his time in going to the throne room, creating a Corridor of Darkness to his throne. He stepped out of it once he arrived, gazing around briefly. Nyxar was pacing below, not in a throne at all, while Superior was the only other waiting. The Schemer said nothing, sitting in his throne quietly as he waited with the other two for the rest to show up, his arms crossed.

Many things flitted through his mind as he sat, the thoughts starting as soon as his eyes glanced over Superior. There were a few things that needed to be discussed of course; the Superior always had an agenda. The dark force that quite nearly destroyed Radiant Garden was going to be a topic brought up in discussion, though Zexion had to wonder what else there would be. Nyxar's recruitment would most likely be discussed as well and he might as well bring up the subject of the keyblade master he found; it would certainly be a topic of interest.

There were plenty of other things to discuss as well; whether they would be able to condense it all into one meeting would be intriguing. What was to be done with the traitors? Would they have to follow the order "Rid us of the traitors" once more, or would they follow a different tactic? Zexion was not sure if eliminating the known traitors would be the best path to follow, though he would have to wait and see what the Superior thought of the matter. He would not know that until the others arrived naturally, causing him to wait patiently as he glanced around the room.

[/size]

[Nothingness]

A Royal Flush

A Corridor of Darkness appeared on a rather mid-height throne, and as it quickly vanished, Luxord appeared. He looked about the sterile, white room with its 13 thrones and circular platform located beneath it, bearing their insignia. Luxord always wondered what the point of that platform was--it hurt his neck to look so far down at it, and it was rarely ever used. Well, it was being used right now by a rather strange looking boy who Luxord had never met. "Hm, the joker to complete our deck?" Something about that seemed wrong, like they had once had a Joker. It didn't matter though, no point trying to remember every player in a game after they left.

Crossing his legs and leaning back in his throne, he began to waggle his foot up and down and look absentmindedly at the bleach-white ceiling. He felt himself like a cut deck. One half cared about the meeting, the other half couldn't care less. The new member intrigued him, but that was about it. The fate of the returning members was simply a bonus for him. The ones who had cheated before were coming back to face the judgment of the house. Still, he also hated to be left out of anything important, though that would be unavoidable--he was nothing more than the tenth member in a group where only the first six matter.

He silently sighed. "Nothing more than a card to be used when it suits the player." He stopped thinking for a moment, as well as the waggling of his foot. He pulled out his deck of card and began shuffling it, trying to whittle away the time. He hated it when other players stalled when their turn came.

[Prythian]

A dark portal opened up on one of the chairs, marking the arrival of the Silent Hero. True to his name, he looked about quietly, marking the absence most of the other members. He supposed the traitors, namely Axel, Larxene, and Marluxia would not show up. He would not either, were he as disloyal as they.

The Superior's wrath was something to be feared by all. Lexaeus's loyalty was never in question, however. There were few he trusted amongst the Organization. The Superior, however, he would not doubt.

He would wait and see what transpired.

[Lagunamov]

You never learn, do you?

Something came to poke Xigbar’s shoulder while he rested on one of the couches at the lounge, officially known as The Grey Area. Leaning his head backwards to take a look at who was disturbing his quiet time, he found himself slightly amused by the sight being a simple Dusk. Of course, that could only mean someone had sent him a message, which soon enough was revealed to be about a meeting about to take place at the usual location.

“Ugh, some timing he has,” he sighed, slightly annoyed at the fact he had to attend a meeting instead of simply hanging out at the lounge until something to do came about. Of course, the meeting didn’t count as something to do; it counted more as something to be bored at, with the exception of possible opening for his jokes. Which somehow felt unlikely to come about considering the situation.

“’Sup?” his voice was the first thing to come out of the Corridor of Darkness he used to move directly to his seat at The Round Room. His seat was directly to the right of Xemnas, who as the one who had summoned them there was already present. Three other seats were already filled, Zexion two seats to his right a couple meters below him, Lexeaus to Xemnas’s other side, and Luxord on the opposite side of the room. The important thing to note was that someone not taking a seat was also present, prancing around the platform at the bottom of the room. Had it not been for his whistling, he wouldn’t have noticed at all.

“What, new recruit? I can see that ending well,” his sarcasm in his statement was so evident it could have been cut with a knife. Certainly, as members had grown larger before, the new recruits had turned out for the worse. After all, the three last numbered members had turned traitors, so he could easily see a dusk coming in the future ordering to erase the new one once more.

[Demyx]

Demyx had been sound asleep for awhile now. He was tired and had decided to go take a nap for the moment. He then turned over and opened his eyes to see a dusk staring at him square in the face. "AHHH!" he yelled in surprise and fell out of his bed. "Ow....can't a guy take a nap in peace?" he complained, as he got up and dusted himself off.

He then turned his attention to the dusk. It had a message. Apparently a meeting was going to happen in a bit. "Man, can't I like not go?" he asked aloud, though he already knew the answer to that. He didn't really have a choice in the matter. He sighed, he always hated these meetings. It wasn't like he actually paid attention to them anyway or like was going to be told anything extremely important.

Sighing, he opened a corridor of darkness and stepped through, arriving in his seat in the round room. He never really understood why the chairs were all so high up, but whatever. "Yo," he said to all that was in the room right now. He looked around to see who was here. Xemnas obviously was here, having been the one that gave the message. Then there was Xiggy, Lexeaus, Zexion, and Luxord as well. He had seen Zexion and Luxord around lately, but he hadn't seen the other two so he wondered how long they'd been around.

It was then he looked down and noticed another person who wasn't seated anywhere. He didn't recognize who it was and could only guess it was a new member. Well, whatever he didn't really care, all he cared about was about when this meeting would end.

[Matt]

Finally

Vexen had been in the middle of performing research when he received the message via dusk that there was to be a meeting of the Organization's members. Well it was about time. He had begun to wonder if Xemnas intended to ever assemble everyone in the Round Room. It had been almost two weeks since he had returned, and he had yet to hear anything from the Superior in that time. As far as he knew, no one had. But now it was finally time to hear what he had to say. Undoubtedly everyone was curious to know what exactly the group's new plan was.

In a column-like portal of darkness, Vexen appeared onto his throne. Upon his arrival, he heard a voice directly to his left saying something about a new recruit. Glancing down, he saw a vaguely familiar face. Organization XIII's latest impudent little initiate: Nyxar. Vexen leaned back in distaste, not caring to look at the annoying little pest anymore. His last (and only) run-in the new member might have been brief, but the Academic's opinion was already firmly made up already on the boy. In a way, all of his loathing for the pesky neophytes that had once tainted the Organization was now directed solely at Nyxar. Perhaps not entirely fair, but if there was one thing a Nobody should know, it's that life is anything but fair.

"For once Xigbar, you might have actually just said something remotely intelligent." He noted in an amused voice. The Freeshooter might have been his superior, but he certainly made it difficult to have hardly any respect for him. With his juvenile behavior, and rather low intelligence, it was a wonder he was second-in-command at all. Still, at least Vexen was capable of acknowledging that Two was above Four, unlike some of the members below him.

Glancing to his right, he saw Zexion sitting in his chair, looking deep in thought. He would likely be asking many questions over the course of the meeting, to help curb his suspicions. Or help fuel them. Vexen wasn't entirely sure which of the two the Schemer was actually interested in doing. Glancing across to the other side of the room, he also found that Luxord and Demyx were there. Both of whom he had already expected would be there. However to Xemnas's left, he noticed a more surprising
face. "Lexaeus. I was not aware that you had returned."

So, including Nyxar, Organization XIII ranks had now been returned to eight. It was a reasonably formidable number. Higher than the group's original amount of members, at least. As a matter of fact, the only founding member that wasn't present was Xaldin, which was unfortunate, considering the fact that he was one of the least annoying in the Organization. "Are we waiting for anyone else?" he asked, evidently ready to commence with the discussion. "Or are we merely waiting for number Eleven to find his seat?"

[/size]

[Administrator]

Here are your orders. Follow them to the letter.

Xemnas looked over at Vexen and said, "I will start when I so wish, and not a whit sooner. I was waiting for all to be gathered, and for the gathered members to become accustomed to being within each others' company once again. I was also waiting for those gathered to then gain their silence after seeing one another again for the first time in longer than it should have been." The words combined with the blank glare signified his annoyance at Vexen's 'holier than thou' attitude.

Nyxar wordlessly took to his seat. He wasn't about to contradict the Superior, nor would he argue with Vexen in front of him. Xemnas cut a rather imposing figure, and Nyxar did not want to get on his bad side. As Xemnas surveyed those gathered, he mentally made a tally. Not as bad as it could have been. "I am glad you were all able to arrive to this meeting." We have almost all of our loyal members gathered here.

Which led to his first topic to bring up in their little discussion. "As I am certain you know, we had several traitors once in our midst. We are not to actively seek them out, but if you encounter one, report it and destroy the target without endangering yourself or your mission. You are more valuable to me than the destruction of a traitor." If only barely.

Continuing onward, Xemnas went to the next active topic. "As I know that none of you have any qualms with that directive, it is time to discuss a matter which I am certain that all of you have heard of." He left a pause so it would sink in on them and let them stir through their thoughts and discern what it was for themselves before continuing. "The attack on the Marketplace in Radiant Garden. What are your thoughts on the matter, Zexion? Vexen?" He purposely chose the most intelligent two of the Organization to give their reports first, so he might obtain the relevant information before he received the irrelevant.

As such, Nyxar stayed silent. He'd speak when it was his turn, and no other time. The Superior was scary.

[Fate]

A Bit of Information

Other members began to show up one by one, Luxord appearing directly after him. Both of them remained silent as they waited for others to show. The next Nobody to appear caught Zexion's attention more, though he showed no reaction other than a slight widening of the eyes before returning to his blank face. It seemed Lexaeus had at last returned, a very good thing indeed. True to his nature, he stayed quiet as well as other members emerged, Xigbar, Demyx and Vexen being the last to join the group. There was chatter after the Freeshooter appeared, Vexen responding. He paid it no heed, waiting for the Superior to speak.

And that he did, addressing one of Zexion's questions in his introduction. His answer as to what to do about the traitors satisfied him and no longer stayed on the Schemer's mind as the Superior continued onto the next subject: the attack on Radiant Garden. Zexion pulled up all of the information he knew quickly, the little bits that he had managed to acquire when he visited the world to assess it himself. It was fortunate that he did, for the Superior seemed interested in what he and Vexen had to say on the matter.

"It does not seem we are looking at a familiar force," he said at first, his tone monotonous as it usually was, "I managed to acquire the description of the attacker but nothing else: a silver robe and red hair, not matching any descriptions that I am aware of." He paused for a moment, letting that fact sink in. "Maleficent also seems to be present in Radiant Garden, though she did not aid the attack. If she had, I do not believe the world would have been left standing." Maleficent was not a very merciful force to deal with, especially if one recalled how Radiant Garden was when she took over. Whoever this mysterious attacker was, he was either merciful... or something else that Zexion could not place.

That was all he truly had to say on the matter, not having any other information to present to the Superior and the rest of the Organization. His arms remained crossed as he kept his gaze on the Superior, not moving it.

[/size]

[Matt]

Inconclusive

Although clearly slightly annoyed, Vexen simply nodded. "My apologizes, Superior." Xemnas was certainly good at saying so little in so many words. Though he still wasn't entirely sure what the Superior was actually aggravated by. He had merely been trying to get things started, for the convenience of everyone. Excuse him for trying to be direct and to the point. Besides, it wasn't as if a certain seventh member hadn't always tried to run the meetings, and that had apparently been allowed. So now that Saix was gone, Vexen had thought he would so generously offer to take his place in that respect, but evidently his services were not appreciated.

The first matter to be dealt with, was that of the traitors. It was quickly covered, however, as Xemnas stated shortly and plainly that while they were not to seek them out, they ought to eliminate them if possible, when and if the situation presented itself. This logic seemed practical enough, and with no objections they soon moved onto the next topic: the attack on Radiant Garden. Both he and Zexion were asked specifically for their opinions, which made sense. None of the other present members had so much as half a brain. Luckily, Vexen had spent a fair amount of time looking into the subject, and was eager to share his thoughts, once the former finish his response.

Rolling his his, Vexen was fast to disagree with Zexion's last statement. "Oh, please. The witch poses little to threat to anyone. Time and time again she has failed, and chances are that's all she'll ever manage to do. Fail." Aside from that small comment, everything else the Schemer had said sounded correct. But naturally, the Chilly Academic had more to add. "Undoubtedly, this mysterious man is very powerful. It is my understanding that he was able to take on a dozen or so warriors of light with complete ease." He paused for a moment, before continuing. "Of his motives I am not entirely certain. From what I've heard, it would appear that he referred to himself as a so called 'tool' of the darkness. This is notable in the sense that most who side with the dark, such as Maleficent, tend to arrogantly consider themselves to be the master, and the darkness to be nothing but tool to with which to obtain their hearts desires. I would assume that this man believes what he's doing is the 'will of the darkness', or something. Perhaps his actions have been spurred by the recent growth in the light's power..."

Having trailed off, he added moments later as an afterthought. "Of course, this is primarily speculation. At this current point in time, I am unable to say anything with complete certainty. Further investigation would have to be done on the subject first." It was definitely a somewhat intriguing subject to look into. Were Radiant Garden's attacker to continue to as he had done, his actions would likely effect everyone: human, heartless, or nobody. And ultimately he might end up helping the Organization with it's goal, though that was unable to know for sure yet.

[Lagunamov]

Well, that's all fine and dandy, but...

“Just because I don’t have a stick up my ass all the time and don’t bury my head in books or in experiments doesn’t mean I’m an idiot. But you are insecure, so I understand your need to look down on people, Number Four,” Xigbar answered in quiet a calm manner to Vexen, mocking him back after he indirectly questioned his intelligence. Of course, he couldn’t go into details of how manipulative he could be without other people realizing, otherwise someone else in the room would catch on to it and it could mean lots of troubles for him. And by troubles, he meant death.

His response went slightly unnoticed, not that he cared, the faster the meeting went through the topics the better. It didn’t take long for the Intel reports by Zexion to be brought up, bringing into attention some new force in the works, making trouble for their enemies. Of course, if it wasn’t aligned to anyone in particular, it could spell trouble even for them. The idea of his former home being destroyed didn’t sit that well with him, but that was most likely residual nostalgia from his former self; if that.

“Well, woop-dee-doo, that explains everything, Captain Obvious,” he remarked once Vexen was done expanding what Zexion had delivered in only a couple of sentences. He skipped any mentions of the witch, for she was of no importance, focusing only on the strange man. “Does it really matter what his intentions are? If he goes around destroying stuff it will costs us hearts, isn’t that the issue here? I mean, if he starts killing keybade masters, the epitome of light warriors at the moment, the amount of people that release hearts properly for us to collect will diminish, unless we worked around that problem, but I don’t think our brilliant minds here have done that yet, right?” he asked with genuine interest in the topic, but said question also served as a stab to those two who sat directly to his right.

[Prythian]

Lexaeus looked about, waiting for no one else to be talking when he spoke. A disturbing thought had occurred to him. "There is another danger." He spoke shortly. The Silent Hero's intelligence was not something to be ignored, despite the opinions of others. He merely spoke only when necessary and even then used few words. "One who calls themselves a tool is more susceptible to being controlled. Should he fall under the sway of any being aside from us, he would cause serious trouble."

He shook his head. It went without saying that a tool of the darkness could be manipulated or allied with others of darkness... and it definitely when without saying that the witch Maleficent was a master manipulator, and one who sought the destruction of the Organization.

[Nothingness]

That's the Rub

"And therein," Luxord began after hearing Xigbar's comments, "Lies our problem. In order to be complete, we need those hearts the Keyblade Masters give us to form Kingdom Hearts. However, I know that you all realize the different stakes of the game this time. We're not talking about a simple friendly game of poker anymore. It's more akin to Russian Roulette between the Light and Darkness." He drew out seven cards from his sleeve, and they levitated in the air in front of him. With a small motion of his index finger, they formed a simple, two-tiered card house. "It doesn't matter which card I pull," he curled his index finger back into his hand, making one of the top cards fall, thus causing the entire house collapse. "It's going to crumble." Taking the cards back into his hand they vanished, and he continued, "While we may be immune to the ebb and flow of those two sources, their collapse will utterly destroy our plans. And that is not something we can have happen."

Having said his piece, he reclined back in his chair. They could use that man, who so pompously calls himself a "tool of darkness", but they would have to make sure to not actively involve themselves with him. Like forcing one to call their bluff, they would have to lead him without actually leading him. But this man seemed smart, even calling himself a "tool" meant that he realized his own position with the darkness. He'd be a worthy adversary, but could they successfully turn him into an unwitting ally? Or would he simply become a nuisance, as he was now? A wry smile formed on Luxord's face at that thought. "Man truly is the most dangerous game one can hunt..."

[Demyx]

After Demyx came in, Vexen arrived and that seemed to be everyone who was going to come back. Well, not bad then most came back. Good to know. Soon after Xemnas basically put Vexen in his place and started the meeting. "Duuuude, buuuurn," he said after Xemnas had spoken to Vexen but he doubted the pompous scientist heard him. It wasn't like Vexen ever paid attention to what Demyx had to say anyway.

Xemnas explained what to do if they saw any of the ones who betrayed him. He was glad it wasn't a top priority, as he would probably not do anything about them if he could help it. After all he didn't really care all that much. Then it started going into what happened at Radiant Garden. He was kind of bummed he didn't get to say anything cause he actually DID do some recon there and wished to get recognition for it and not be seen as dead weight, but it was kind of expected.

Besides he didn't have much to add to Zexion's statements. He then listened to Vexen, who just kind of elaborate don what Zexion had already said and Xiggy called him out on it. Which he couldn't help but snicker at. It just wasn't Vexen's day today was it? Lexeaus then pointed out that the man could join up with someone that would be against them which could be bad. And Luxord added on that saying how they couldn't let either side fall, as it would not help them.

It was then he remembered something. "Oh, yeah...Not like to get off track..." he started off. "But when i visited Radiant Garden, there were like....these three silver haired guys giving the restoration committee dudes and the mouse king person a run for their money. I don't know if they have their own agenda or are under the command of someone but maybe we should like give that some consideration too?" It wasn't often Demyx actually had anything to say at these things, so hopefully he had picked something noteworthy.

[Administrator]

An open discussion.

Nyxar spoke up. "I haven't encountered anyone of import, though I will relay any findings I have directly to you, Superior." The normally cheerful Nobody was utterly terrified of the leader of the Organization, due to some stories he had heard once, about what he did to some disobedient Nobodies...or even those who just annoyed him too much. Nyxar was determined to not be one of those Nobodies.

Xemnas looked at him and nodded, the only acknowledgment that the other Nobody received. "According to your reports, this mystery figure is red haired, and possesses a silver robe which he wears. Any particular skin tone, or did you not think to ask about this?" Xemnas surveyed the gathered members for a moment before continuing. "According to Vexen's speculation, this man may be following the darkness due to an influx of light. Lexaeus brought up the excellent point that should he truly be a tool, as he says, Maleficent may use him.

"All of us agree that this is an end to be avoided at all costs. Due to the additional information provided by this gathering," Xemnas said, his voice carrying a sense of urgency, and vague self-importance, "I am assigning the task of tracking down and negotiating with this man to Zexion. I trust you will find him and deal with him accordingly." Turning then to Demyx, he said, "That is of little import at the moment. These silver haired men are nothing to our plans at the moment, so we may as well ignore them. If they begin to cost us hearts, then we will consider them more fully."

Xemnas looked around the gathering. "Does any other have anything else to add? Or perhaps another topic which one of you wishes to bring up?" His eyes scanned the gathered crowd, looking for any who wished to speak up and voice their concerns or otherwise bring something up in the meeting while they were all gathered.