This story takes a few liberties, namely that Erauqs' ghost is haunting Castle Oblivion (when in canon he's fighting Xehanort for control of Terra's heart). I'd also like to point out that at no point (in this story or CoM) does Zexion sense DiZ's presence - probably to prevent spoilers.
The world of Castle Oblivion was once known as the Land of Departure, where Master Erauqs lived with his three apprentices. The evil Master Xehanort betrayed them all, slaying Erauqs and pulling the apprentices into darkness. Years later, in search of the Chamber of Waking, the Superior of Organization XIII, Xemnas, sent Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion to the Castle's lowest levels to uncover any and all secrets left behind. Before the arrival of Riku, Sora, and company put this mission on hold, this is what transpired...
Zexion awoke in the middle of the night feeling uneasy. He didn't remember the room being so cold when he'd gone to bed, but that wasn't what bothered him. There was a faint scent, so weak and unfamiliar to him that he couldn't put his finger on it. Nobodies had scents stronger than this. That left him with only one possible explanation, and he didn't like it.
As Vexen was practically living in the new lab he'd set up upon their arrival and would not want to be bothered with such nonsense (not that he was much help in these situations to begin with), Zexion decided to open a portal to Lexaeus' room. When he stepped out of the portal, however, he noticed that the ambient temperature of Lexaeus' room was at a normal level. This confirmed his fear of what was in his room, and he climbed into Lexaeus' bed seeking warmth and comfort.
Being a light sleeper, Lexaeus awoke instantly and pulled back the blanket. "Zexion, what are you doing in here?" he asked, surprised to see him.
"My room is cold," Zexion muttered in response. He could feel the temperature begin to drop in this room too and pulled the blanket back over himself. "Would it be all right with you if I slept in here for a while?"
Lexaeus silently assented and tried to go back to sleep, starting to notice the slight chill himself. As the temperature continued to drop, he felt Zexion clinging to him. Having known Zexion for almost as long as the boy had been alive, he realized that something else was wrong besides the cold. "What's the matter, Zexion?"
"There's a presence in this place that makes the temperature drop. It was in my room and now it's in here."
"But what is it?"
"I don't know. The scent is too weak." After a long pause, he nervously added, "I think it's a ghost, but it's not somebody I've met before."
Lexaeus said nothing, not wanting to contradict him. He couldn't fight something he couldn't see or touch, but if there was an entity present, it hadn't done anything harmful, at least not yet. Knowing that Zexion didn't scare easily or over nothing, he put his arm around him protectively. "It's okay. Go back to sleep."
"I sort of wish it was someone I knew," Zexion mumbled. He then pushed this thought away and tried to ignore the cold and the scent, snuggling into Lexaeus' side.
Invisible to the two Nobodies, Erauqs' ghost only lingered a moment longer before moving on to another part of the Castle. To him, those two seemed like brothers, and that reminded him of Terra and Ven. Erauqs had played right into Xehanort's plan as well, weakening himself by fighting and trying to kill the boys before they had the chance to betray him. That had been his mistake, and he sensed that despite Aqua's efforts Xehanort had survived to do the same thing to another family. However, this arrangement had worked out differently, as their master had only been banished instead of being literally stabbed in the back as Erauqs himself had been.
Ghost Erauqs found Diz's hideaway elsewhere in the Castle. He sensed that Master Ansem's heart had fallen into darkness as a result of his banishment, of Xehanort and the apprentices' betrayal. Ansem had fallen into a similar trap and needed to realize what Erauqs had not until it was too late - it was patience, love, and full disclosure of impending danger that overcame adversity, not murder. No matter what the reason, killing people (or in this case, Nobodies) wasn't the proper solution.
Ansem (or Diz, as he was calling himself) noticed the sudden chill but could not see the cause of it. Ghost Erauqs used the energy he'd been gathering to manifest himself for a split-second. "Beware," his voice echoed as he vanished from sight as quickly as he had appeared. Through the one eye hole in his disguise, Ansem thought he was hallucinating and decided to retire for the rest of the night.
Minutes later, Vexen was awoken from his lab table by the sound of breaking glass. "What was that?" he exclaimed angrily, getting up from his seat and striding across the room. He found an empty shelf and the remnants of some glass flasks and beakers on the floor. Carved into the wall was the word BEWARE. Thinking it a prank by one of the upstairs team, he opened a portal to their main room. There he found Axel, who was snoozing on a couch. Even though it couldn't have been him who'd done it, Vexen confronted him anyway. "Axel, wake up!" he yelled, shaking him.
"What the hell, Vexen?!" Axel snapped groggily, not appreciating being woken up this way. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"All I know is that someone smashed some things in my lab and wrote a threat on the wall," Vexen complained. "If it was Marluxia or Larxene, I want you to tell me right now."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Axel replied earnestly. "Sure the two of them can be jerks, but it's not like them to pull petty stunts like that."
Suddenly the giant double-door in the room creaked open and shut a little, accompanied by a slight breeze. "There shouldn't be any wind in here," Vexen said suspiciously.
"And it wouldn't make the room this cold," Axel commented. "Look at this - I can see my own breath!"
They heard a noise and looked down. A crayon had rolled across the floor from the direction of Namine's room. It then levitated and wrote BEWARE on the wall before dropping back down again. "You saw that too, right?" Axel asked, barely above a whisper. Vexen was speechless.
Larxene walked in, having been disturbed by their shouting earlier. "What are you two yelling about? And why is it so cold in here? Vexen?"
"It wasn't me," Vexen protested. "Don't you see that on the wall?"
Larxene saw it, but of course she hadn't actually seen it happen so she wasn't fazed by it. "So what if Namine's been writing on the walls? Who cares?"
"It wasn't Namine - it did it by itself," Axel said, pointing at the crayon on the floor.
"You expect me to believe that? Ha!" Larxene laughed derisively. "I'm going back to bed. You guys get to clean up."
"Should've known she wouldn't believe us," Axel sighed after Larxene was gone. "Let's not speak of this again."
"I'll have to make a note of it in my report, but otherwise I agree," Vexen replied. "Well, I've got a lab to clean up. Good luck scraping that off the wall."
***
The next morning, Namine went looking for her missing crayon. Axel handed it back to her like he was holding a dead fish. "Thanks, but...what were you doing with it in the first place?" Namine asked, oblivious.
"Just keep a closer eye on your things from now on, okay?" Axel replied, not wanting to discuss it.
"Yeah, they might grow legs and walk away," Larxene teased, joining them. "I told Mar-Mar everything."
Axel groaned but did not explain anything to the confused Namine.
Marluxia, meanwhile, had opened a portal to Vexen's lab to bother him about the events of the previous night. "Boo," he greeted him.
"That is not funny, Marluxia," Vexen grumbled, safely disposing of the broken glass and rummaging in his supply closet for replacements.
"Larxene told me about your and Axel's encounter last night. Is it true you believe Castle Oblivion to be haunted?"
"No, there could be several other explanations for what happened."
"Sound's like you're in denial."
"Marluxia, leave. Unless you want to help me spackle the graffiti off the wall, get out of my lab at once."
"Fine, but I'd like to read that report when you're done with it."
"My reports are for the Superior's eyes only, now get out."
"We'll see about that." Marluxia opened up another portal and left, but not before looking back at Vexen with an evil grin. "Once I take over leadership of the Organization," he added to himself.
Not long after Marluxia had gone, however, another portal appeared. "I thought I told you to leave!" Vexen shouted, but then he realized it wasn't Marluxia returning to bug him. "Oh, it's just you."
"And a good morning to you too," Zexion retorted.
"What do you want, Zexion? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Did you notice anything unusual last night?" Zexion asked hesitantly, briefly noticing the scrawl on the wall.
"What have you heard?" Vexen inquired, fearing that the rumors had spread.
"Nothing. It got really cold and I thought I sensed something, that's all. Are you sure nothing out of the ordinary happ-"
"Yes, I did all this myself!" Vexen raged sarcastically, pointing at the warning on the wall and the trash bin full of broken glass. "Is that what you want to hear?!"
"You're the same as ever," Zexion commented before seeing himself out. He returned to his room, where he found the same message arranged on his desk in cut-out letters: BEWARE. He stared at this for about thirty seconds before brushing them off into the wastepaper basket. Summoning his Lexicon, he set it down on the desk and sat down to examine it.
Seconds later, a semi-loud thud broke his concentration. He looked over his shoulder and saw that a book had fallen from the shelf behind him. Not surprisingly, it was cold to the touch, but that didn't stop him from picking it up and opening it. He found an old photo stuck between two pages, and the opposite page had holes cut out of it like the letters that had formed the message on his desk. He didn't recognize any of the people in the photo, but he got the idea. If there was a ghost, whether in this picture or not, he or she was warning them about someone who was. There was nothing Zexion could do, however, except put the book back on the shelf and keep his senses alert.
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