Mournful Kingdom

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or any of their respective characters. They belong to Square Enix, Disney, ect. However I do own Niobe/Xenobi  please do not use her without my permission.


Chapter One – Rebirth


The Superior was displeased, that much was obvious. Axel winced as his eyes met the man who he called boss.

What he had done was wrong.

Incorrect.

Terrible.

Not that he felt guilty or anything. That was impossible as much as he wished he did.

"You tried to take the girl's heart?" the Superior murmured, mildly smoothing out his coat.

"Yes," Axel murmured, "She was gullible and easy to seduce."

Xemnas sighed, "I understand your desire to have a heart Axel, but the way you have chosen to go about this was dangerous... This girl…she's too powerful. She needs to be eliminated."

"No," Axel snapped, then blinked, unsure as to why he had disagreed. "I'll take her. Train her with Roxas. She can be managed."

The superior nodded, "Very well. She may prove to be of use."

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Axel stared down at the girl who lay on his bed, staring at her with an expression that was close to compassion.

Her skin was paler than he remembered, and there was the issue of her hair turning green, but that was of course was the price she would have to pay.

"Wake up Xenobi." He murmured softly.

Then, her eyes opened and the plant that lay in the corner of the room shattered, thousands of tiny shards erupting at flinging off the back of Axel's head.

The plant had mutated into a large vine, and Axel barely had time to blink when it wrapped around his throat.

"Who are you?" Xenobi said, flinging herself towards the end of the wall, her eyes wide with fear and anger.

In a moment, the plant disengrated into ash as Axel let the flames overtake him.

"My name is Axel," He said calmly, brushing himself off. "I am your instructor. I can teach you control."

He strode towards her and knelt down to extend his hand, "Come on, I won't hurt you."

She stared at him fearfully and Axel noticed her entire body began to shake, "Come on," he said softly, taking her hand.

He led her down the hallway, and she winced at the bright whiteness of it all.

"Do you remember anything?" Axel asked.

Xenobi shook her head,

"You're in Castle Oblivion," he said softly, "You are a Nobody. We are all Nobodies here. We all desire to be Somebody. We have no heart. Therefore, we have no feelings."

"I do," she said softly, "I can feel. But its different…more extreme."

Axel said nothing now, only shook his head, "It is a lot to grasp, I know. But, I'll take care of you."

He opened the door to a room and Xenobi noticed a pale young girl sitting at a table drawing carefully.

"Hello Xenobi." She said softly without looking up from her drawing.

"This is Namine," Axel said, "You are going to stay with her, she'll take care of you too."

She turned suddenly to Axel and grasped at his hands, "What's happened to me?"

Axel smiled, and for a moment, Niobe thought she saw something sinister in his eyes. "You've been given a gift. You're powerful now."

He then disappeared in a flurry of smoke and flame, leaving her alone.

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"I took her heart from her." Axel said softly, as both he and Roxas sat atop the clock tower. "It shattered when I touched it, so some pieces were still inside of her." He said softly.

"What about her Heartless?" Roxas asked, "Did she become one?"

Axel shook his head, "No. How could she? She's stuck in the in-between. Still a Somebody, and yet no one."

Roxas, gave him an inquiring look, then continued, "So she's not a heartless, but not someone either. Shouldn't she have been eliminated?"

Axel shook his head, "I couldn't let her die. Something about her…matters… to me. I've taken it upon myself to take her as my protégée. She's residing with Namine."

Roxas flushed and nodded, "She's in good hands then. Namine has never been one to screw up." He said carefully, taking a bite of his ice-cream.

The fire-bender nodded, "Sure, but Xenobi is new, and not to mention her heart's in fragments, she's dangerous." He trailed off after a moment and sighed, "She'll be trained well enough though."

"That is of course, depending on what Namine is required to change of Xenobi's memories."

Axel sat quietly for a moment, staring off into the sunset, "Namine will know."