Originally I wasn't going to continue with this, but it needed a proper continuation and a conclusion. Zexion of course doesn't get a chance to return to Jump City and instead is sent to Castle Oblivion a few days later.
***
One day, seeking some peace and quiet, Raven decided to leave the Tower for a little while. "Oblivion would be nice," she said to herself, opening a portal. She'd meant oblivion with a lowercase "o," but the spell took her to Oblivion with a capital "O" - Castle Oblivion. "This isn't what I had in mind, but...it sure looks desolate enough," she reasoned. Having no idea who lived there, if anyone, she took a chance on opening the door and entered into the empty hallway. "Hello? Is anyone here?"
Down in the basement, where he was stationed with Vexen and Lexaeus, Zexion stopped talking mid-sentence when he sensed her arrival. He gasped in surprise. "What is it?" Lexaeus asked, concerned. If he had a heart, it'd be leaping out of his chest, he observed.
"It's her...She's here..." he whispered excitedly.
"Who's here?" Vexen demanded impatiently.
"Raven. The girl I told you about."
"How did she know where to find you?"
"I didn't tell her, if that's what you're accusing me of. She must have found it on her own." I'd better intercept her before someone upstairs does. He teleported to the entrance hall to greet his guest. "I'm pleased we could meet again, Raven."
"Zexion? What are you doing here?" Raven asked neutrally, surprised to see him too.
This is some coincidence, Zexion thought, realizing she hadn't come to see him after all. "I'm here on a secret mission. How did you find this place?"
"I came here sort of by accident," she replied sheepishly.
"Really?" Maybe it had been a little too presumptuous of him to think that she had tracked him down.
"Yeah. I just wanted to relax for a while and this is where I ended up." She began to twirl her hair nervously but stopped herself. What am I doing?
"Well you don't have to worry about those monsters showing up here, but there are five - no, six - other members of my group living here too, so I can't promise absolute silence."
Raven remembered the darkness she had felt from him. "What's your secret mission about, then?"
"I can't tell you that, of course, but we are looking for something."
Raven wasn't sure whether she should volunteer to help or not. She could easily send out her power over the castle to find whatever it was, but she got the feeling that it wouldn't be used for anything good. Not that Zexion seemed interested in finding it for nefarious purposes. Right now he only seemed interested in talking to her. He hadn't once broken eye contact. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked quietly.
Zexion quickly looked away. "Sorry. Your eyes are just so captivating."
What? Does he...like me? Raven wasn't new to the concept of dating, but it hadn't exactly turned out well for her in the past.
Suddenly, the brooch on her cloak started flashing. "What's that?" Zexion asked.
"There's trouble back in Jump City," she explained. "I have to return to the Tower."
Zexion nodded. "I understand."
"You're going to be here a while, right?"
"For the foreseeable future."
"I'll come back another time, then."
Zexion repeated what she'd said to him before. "I'll be waiting."
Raven departed, and Zexion returned to the basement. "The verdict?" Vexen prompted, clipboard at the ready.
"She hadn't meant to come here, but she said she'd be back later."
"That's good, isn't it?" Lexaeus said encouragingly. Zexion didn't respond, wondering if it really would be good. He certainly hadn't expected any trouble...
***
When Raven finally returned to Castle Oblivion on another day, no one appeared to greet her in the entrance hall. She touched the wall and used her powers to try to sense what was going on. She got a vision of Sora, Donald, and Goofy entering the castle and being greeted by two other cloaked members of the Organization. Those three she sensed were still upstairs along with some other people, but Zexion was not among them, nor were any other members of the Organization. "Did they leave?" she wondered aloud.
She sent out her power slowly with the hope of finding some clue as to what had happened, but couldn't find a trace of anyone left. "People don't just vanish," she told herself. "There has to be some explanation." Still, she didn't find anything other than a blocked off room her powers couldn't reach. "Maybe that's what they were looking for, and they reported back." She didn't sound too sure, though. She returned to Titans Tower feeling unfulfilled.
***
Raven was in the back of Ienzo's mind after he reconstituted along with the others. As soon as things became settled in Radiant Garden, he set about trying to find her. He knew she lived in Jump City in a place called the Tower; that seemed like enough to go on. Someone would point him in the right direction.
It had been over a year, and Raven had not expected to see him again. Sure enough, however, he turned up at the front door of Titans Tower wearing a white lab coat instead of the black coat of the Organization. "Zexion, is everything okay?"
"More or less, and I'm back to using my real name, Ienzo."
"The first name you said."
"Yeah."
"What happened? I went back to Oblivion but you were already gone."
"It's a long story."
"I figured as much when we first met. You don't have to explain. I have a past too."
"You do?" Ienzo couldn't imagine what she could have been through that would have been on par with or worse than his own experiences.
Raven nodded. "Are those for me?" She pointed to the flowers in Ienzo's hands.
"Oh! Uh, yes." He quickly handed them over. "Almost forgot."
"Thanks." She hesitated. "I know you're infatuated with me, but you should know this isn't going to work out."
Hearing this stung, but Ienzo knew it was probably true; they each had a duty to their own world. "No reason we can't still get to know each other better and be friends."
"I think I can handle that."
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