Hurting Hope

The Real Reason

Lelie 

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Lelie walked casually through the Organization's castle, tossing her pole up into the air and catching it. Her gloves were still wet with Kairi's blood. She wanted to be sure that her cuts would scar. 

That'll get Sora mad, Lelie thought darkly, smiling.

"Now, what might you be smiling about?" an accented voice asked.

Lelie's face dropped. "What do you want Luxord?" she growled, looking at the Gambler of Fate.

Luxord smiled and flicked his cards between his hands. "Nothing. I was just wondering what exactly was running through that head of yours. Though, with the screams I just heard, I'm not sure if I want to know anymore." 

Lelie sniffed. "I was just giving the princess what she deserved."

"Oh really?" Luxord raised an eyebrow. "And what was her crime?" Lelie froze. "Ah, that's what I thought. There was no crime, just hate. Or perhaps, not even that."

"I do hate the princess," Lelie hissed, turning to the Nobody.

Luxord shrugged, twisting his cards between his fingers. "Maybe, but I have a nagging thought that it's not the reason you're doing this?" He looked at the Heartless. "Might I ask, what is it?"

"My reasons are none of your concern," Lelie told the Gambler, crossing her arms and turning to walk away. 

Luxord smirked. "Of course." Lelie started to walk away. "I just thought that maybe it was the same reason you decided not to inform us about your Keyblade." 

Lelie stopped and snapped her head around to glare. "Shh!" she hissed. She walked up to him. "How do you know about my Keyblade?" she whisper-growled.

"I have my ways," Luxord said smugly. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't tell anyone."

"You better not," Lelie snarled. "Or I will kill you." 

"I thought you were planning on that anyway." 

"I planned for the Keyblade Wielder to kill you," Lelie corrected. 

"Why use him?" Luxord asked, making his cards appear and disappear. "If you can wield the--" Lelie growled, "--thing, why not just do it yourself? You're in a perfect place to do so."

Lelie smirked. "Where's the fun in that?"

"That's not the answer I was looking for."

Lelie's eyes flared gold. "Excuse me?"

All of Luxord's card disappeared. "I said, that's not the answer I was looking for. You have another reason for doing this, one none of the rest of us know. I want to know what your reason is."

"And what makes I think I'll tell you?"

Luxord smiled. "You don't need to. The answer is written all over your face."

"Is that so?" Lelie muttered, darkness flickering under her skin.

Luxord chuckled. "When you've been playing games for as long as I have, sweetheart, it gets quite easy to read your opponent." He started to walk away, smiling to himself.

"Well then, why do you think I'm doing this?" Lelie asked, glaring at the Nobody suspiciously.

"It's simple," Luxord stated. He turned and flicked a card at the humanoid Heartless. It whizzed past Lelie's ear and made her flinch, cutting her slightly. "You're scared. You're frightened at the concept of hurting those that you care about, even if you don't want to care. You're afraid of what it what it'll do to others, do to you."

Lelie touched the blood dripping down her ear. "Maybe you're right. Maybe you're not."

"Do you want to wager, Heartless?"

Lelie smiled darkly. "Nah, I don't gamble."

"And why might that be?" Luxord asked, shuffling his cards.

"You said it yourself at the last meeting," Lelie explained. "'Why bet on something, when you already know the outcome?'"

"Well, you already now the outcome, why are you so afraid?"

"Because," Lelie said, "the future is not always to my liking." A Dark Corridor opened behind her. Saix walked out.

"The Keyblade Wielder has entered the data version of Twilight Town and is making his way through the Dark Corridors," Saix told them. "It appears he's starting to receive some of Roxas's memories."

Lelie nodded. "Great, anything else?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"The Dusks have spotted Axel in the Dark Corridor. Heading to Sora, apparently," Saix said.

"That makes things a tad more difficult," Luxord muttered. 

"Not really," Lelie said smugly. "Send some Dusks at them. I'm going to go tell the Superior."

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 Rue 

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Rue, while waiting for Demyx to return, slipped a black coat on over her clothes, so she wouldn't draw attention. 

What should I do now? she thought, already bored. She started searching the drawers and cupboards in her room. 

Most of them were empty, a few had random books and a little paper. Rue grabbed the paper.

If only I had some pencils or something. She kept looking until she found a small box of colored pencils. Good enough. 

She sat at the plain white desk and started drawing. After a while, she had used up all the paper. She pouted. "Great, now what?" she muttered to herself. She looked around the room. "Hmm. It could use some color," she said with a smile. "And since I'm not planning on being here long..."

She grinned and stood up. Walking over to the wall, she started working.