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“Yes.” Xemnas turned to Jaxine as she entered. This was an easy place to find him, but at this hour most would leave Xemnas alone. They had their own devices to entertain themselves with. “How have the first two days been?”

Hataxn's right eye was slightly swollen, but he could still see fine out of it. Larxene was fast, but that didn’t mean she wasn't painful. The elders were very trained, and it took a long time for them to get that way, too.
He noticed Zexion enter with one of the apprentices. Then went back to his book.

Stabbing the dummy in the chest, Shaxirma pulled her katana out. She turned around as she did so, noticing she wasn't alone. Nechax was there. Had not Marluxia's friend been there, Shaxirma probably would have done something about it. Instead she didn't.

“I've come to talk about our apprentices.” Saix stated. He did not want to spend any more time in that garden than he had to. “I want yours to stay away from mine.”

“Sure! Maybe I'll actually beat someone tonight!” Axel said. Luxord dealt the cards.
“Still bounce, I see.” He commented at Myrthe's appearance. Was she ever out of a good mood?

“Sorry.” Xathere said, realizing that she probably woke him up. “I'll go if you want me to.”
She was used to being bossed around after the day's events. Between Larxene and Xigbar, he was far easier, but just as painful.

“How so?” Xemnas asked. She was still new to this life. She had few memories of this one to block out the old life with. He had those moments sometimes, but he was always alone during those times.

“Larxene and I sparred.” Hataxn answered. He acted as if it was one of the everyday occurrences. It probably would be, once he was a little more healed up. Sparring as a Somebody only seemed to be horsing around compared to this.

Raising an eyebrow, Shaxirma felt that Larxene was encouraging her to attack the boy. Shrugging, she had no problem with that. Some practical application was needed anyway.
Nechax watched the girls in confusion. Then Shaxirma was charging at him with her katana. He summoned his sword just in time to block her. Their swords were shoved against each other for some time, before Shaxirma was pushed off.

“Fair enough.” Saix turned to leave. “Just keep in mind that the purpose of these apprentices is to train them to achieve Kingdom Hearts. They have no other use.”
He left the discussion at that. Saix had no doubt that Marluxia had more that just that planned for Shaxirma. Thankfully, he was leaving that dreadful garden of XI's.

“We're not doing the worse stuff yet. We're just starting.” Axel shot a grin to Xigbar. “Besides, Myrthe here doesn't need to see a couple of gross naked guys like you two.”
Axel, on the other hand, thought he looked pretty good. If Myrthe wasn't there, he wouldn't mind strip poker. Except anyone could walk in on them in the Grey Area.

Xathere moved away from the door. She moved over next to the bed. “Relax.”
Lars still wasn't strong enough to even lift himself up. He probably wouldn't be for awhile. Their elders would not appreciate Lars being incapacitated for a few days. They would probably force him to move.

“Your memories will help you in this life.” Xemnas answered. He sighed at her concern about the dark. “Perhaps it is the Heartless pet you have.”
No other member would sleep soundly with a Heartless nearby. Even if they didn't have hearts, the Heartless were pests. They needed to be gotten rid of. There was also a reason that the Castle didn't have an infestation.

Hataxn went back into his book. He decided to read up on Xemnas' thoughts on theologies. There was only one thing the Superior really believed in, which was the two forces of Darkness and Light. All else was deemed improbable.

Larxene hardly knew what she was talking about. Shaxirma gave her a nod though, knowing that Nechax would see it.
He went ahead and tried to land an attack of his own. He was not going to let himself get pushed around like this. Nechax caught Shaxirma off guard, shoving her to the side with his sword. She fell over, clutching the deep bruise. She was lucky skin wasn't cut. Leaping up, Shaxirma jabbed her katana at him. Nechax jumped back.

Saix closed the door behind himself. Marluxia's comment gave him no comfort about the traitor. It was a shame they would have to lose potential because of the pink-haired man's planning.

With a laugh, “All natural.”
He heard a lot of comments about anorexia. Axel never really appreciated them. Anorexia was for girls! Exercising too much – that was for guys. Somehow that was a disorder. Axel didn’t see how.
“Some guys just like to see other guys naked.” Axel said to Myrthe.
“That's what you think.” Luxord took a huge gulp of his whiskey.

“Vexen did something to your head.” Xathere didn't look too much at the stitches. They misshaped Lars' head. Actually, she couldn't look at him a whole lot without looking at those stitches. “So you can't remember the past two days. We're friends. And I think my father's your new teacher.”
She wanted Lars to remember that they were friends. As friends, she thought telling him about her family again was okay. He had known before, and this was better than finding out later for a second time.

Raising his eyebrows, Xemnas had not expected Jaxine to still carry fear. In this life, she could easily disregard it. But it was part of her memories. She could forget about the past, but then lose the memories that he wanted her to keep.

Leaping forward with another swing of the katana, Shaxirma aimed for Nechax's legs. She hit her mark. He fell onto his back. She straightened up and put the katana right next to his neck.
“What is your problem?” Nechax asked, completely not getting anything anyone did around here.

“You'll find out when you're older, squirt.” Axel said. Myrthe was younger than the rest of them. That didn’t mean they couldn't have a little fun with her.
“I'm probably one of the manliest guys around here.” Luxord boasted. Drunkeness also played a part in his strip poker issue...

“Me neither.” Xathere said, although she had more of a clue than Lars. “There are twelve older members, and eight of us apprentices. We're supposed to create Kingdom Hearts, but that seems to be a long time from now.”
A very, very long time of emptiness that she did not enjoy.

“It's mostly your memory of the fear. It should disappear in time.” Xemnas explained, a hand going on Jaxine's shoulder. It was the only logical explanation he could give her. Of all the fears Nobodies usually portrayed, it was usually the fear of death. No one was certain if their Heartless had been destroyed, after all.

“What are you three doing?” Saix entered without anyone noticing. His tone was harsh as he found them.
“Training.” Shaxirma looked away from her victim, getting the look of malice off of her face. She moved her katana away from Nechax. He stood up.

“If you say so.” Luxord started unzipping his coat. Axel reached over and smacked his hand.
“She doesn't know what you're talking about!” He had to save Myrthe's obliviousness, and Luxord's dignity (although that did not matter to Axel).
“C'mon Axel! You have to admit, it is pretty hot in the Castle tonight.” Luxord laughed.

“You've done nothing wrong. It's Vexen.” Xathere sighed. She looked up, hopeful at a change in topic. “Your homeworld? Which one was it?”

Jaxine's sudden reaction was unexpected, if a bit too much. Xemnas became less stiff about it as he hugged back. They could have this moment, just between the two of them.

“And I supposed you are overseeing the exercise?” Saix crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Larxene. Neither one of these two were her apprentice. “Then you'd better do a better job of keeping them from killing each other.”

“Of course a girl would say that!” Luxord said, if a little too loudly. “Always with their fantasizing of some Prince Charming...”
Axel noticed his cards. Another bad hand. Luxord was either too drunk to even play cards, or cheating.

Smiling without Lars being able to see it, Xathere was happy to hear of a world that had no conflicts or Darkness to it. It was just happy.
“Maybe we could go look for it some day.” She said hopefully. Lars didn't remember how miserable this place was.

((LARS!!!!!!!!! >w< I WANT TO HUG!!!!!!!!))

Making no indication of moving away, they were frozen in that spot. Xemnas knew his quest for power would come with some costs. He didn't realize just how close those costs would be. Had there been a way, Jaxine would still be a Somebody, just kept very close.

Saix just blinked, unamused of Larxene. “Very well, then.”
He turned and left the three of them to their exercise. Nechax took the chance to catch Shaxirma off guard. He tripped her with his own sword.

“Really?” Luxord grinned. He moved closer to Myrthe. “How's 'bout it, love?”
“You got to be cheating.” Axel stopped looking at his cards to shoot a glare at Luxord.
Hiccuping, Luxord ended it with a laugh, “It's not cheating. It's your bad luck!”

Xathere took a seat on the floor, next to the bed. “I come from Land of Dragons. We had festivals all the time, and huge gardens.”
She seemed sad. She couldn't return home anymore.