This one-shot written by Xion (hanyounomiko). Cross-posted from Tumblr (hanyounomikoartz, penumbraluna).
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"Isa, please don't do this."
Saix raised an eyebrow at the redhead. Axel was making quite the show of nerves. His shoulders were hunched, his eyebrows knit worriedly. Saix shook his head gently.
"Something needs to be done. It's been three years and we haven't gotten anywhere. We all deserve to know what Xemnas' plan is; I thought we agreed on that?"
"Yeah but, you really think he's gonna be okay with you just up and asking that?" Axel scowled. "This is a bad plan; he's not gonna be happy at all. What if he hurts you?"
Saix snorted. "C'mon, he's not going to hurt me. I've been playing his little favorite, remember? Besides, I'm just going to ask what it is we're doing. We have a right to that information; he can't possibly punish me for asking."
Axel's eyes narrowed at his friend.
"Since when do you put so much faith in that guy? I don't like this, Isa. Don't."
Saix stopped walking. He placed a reassuring hand on his old friend's shoulder. He met the redhead's eyes; Axel was starting to get taller than him, he noted.
"It's going to be fine. Trust me," he said with full conviction. Axel said nothing, only turning his eyes away with a small scowl. Saix squeezed his shoulder once more before releasing him.
"Come now. We don't want to be late."
—
The meeting was dragging on forever with nothing at all being accomplished. As usual. Saix often wondered if Xemnas ever got tired of hearing himself pontificate. But for all his long-winded speeches, Xemnas never really said anything. It was like he was just trying to lull them into a stupor so they wouldn't notice how ineffectual this Organization was at its stated goal. Saix was getting tired of listening to this pointless nonsense.
"Lord Xemnas," he suddenly said, cutting the older Nobody's speech off mid-sentence. To his surprise, the Superior completely stopped talking. Saix had been expecting to be spoken over, or at least that Xemnas would say something about the interruption. But he merely pinned Saix with an inscrutable look and said nothing.
Directly across the room from him, Saix could see Axel's eyes widen. The redhead was trying to subtly gesture "no" to him, but it wasn't very subtle at all; 'frantic' would have been a better descriptor. Well, he'd see. It would turn out just fine, Saix was certain. He cleared his throat. The silence in the room was becoming uncomfortable. Xemnas was clearly waiting for him to speak.
"…my apologies for interrupting," Saix began carefully. "I mean no disrespect, sir, but I'm unclear as to what exactly we're doing to further our goal of reclaiming our hearts." He waited a beat, with no response, and so he continued. "…I know that you say we are making strides, but I fail to see them." Still, Xemnas said nothing. Saix squirmed slightly under his gaze. "Perhaps you could detail for us exactly what it is that we're doi—"
"Are you questioning me, Number VII?"
The tension in the room was instantly palpable. Every eye was on Saix. The Nobody couldn't feel fear, but he was beginning to think perhaps this hadn't been the best plan, after all. But Xemnas had been a scientist. Surely he was a reasonable man. Saix only needed to appeal to logic. He met the man's gaze directly.
"Sir, it's just that…well, we've all served you faithfully. Each of us has put our lives on the line for the benefit of the Organization more than once. So I believe we have a right to know what it is we're doing here. I think we've earned that."
Xemnas still had not moved a muscle. Saix was really starting to regret saying anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Xigbar giving Xemnas a strange look, one Saix had no idea how to interpret.
An instant later, Xemnas was looming over him, standing on the arm of his chair. Saix gave a startled gasp and recoiled; he hadn't even seen the Superior move.
"So. You believe you've 'earned' the right to that knowledge. Amusing." His tone sent the memory of a chill down Saix's spine. Xemnas's hand snapped out to seize Saix by the collar. Another flash of dizzying, gut-churning motion, and Saix found himself dangled a foot or so above the dais in the center of the room. Xemnas flung him roughly down onto the surface. Saix let out a yelp. At the same time, he heard a frightened-sounding gasp from Axel up above; only audible because all the former Apprentices were frozen in silent anticipation. His own gaze snapped to the cold golden glare the Superior had fixed on him.
"Draw your weapon," Xemnas ordered. "Then we shall see what you have earned."
Saix didn't dare disobey; he scrambled to his feet and summoned his Claymore into his hand. Xemnas didn't bother to reciprocate. Instead, he held out one hand and made a beckoning motion.
Very well. If that was how it was to be.
Saix lunged, swinging his Claymore as swiftly as he was able. He was confident in both his speed and his power. And so he was shocked when Xemnas was simply not there anymore. He barely had time to register that fact before one of Xemnas' Ethereal Blades slammed into Saix's side and sent him skidding painfully across the dais. He curled around his middle, gasping for breath.
"Again." The Superior beckoned once more with his hand. Saix rolled up to his feet, determined this time to strike him. He dashed forward, but this time he feinted left before striking to the right. He was certainhe'd hit him this time—
A blow to his face had him driven to the ground once more. Saix saw stars as his head bounced off the cold white marble. He lay dazed for a moment.
"Again."
Once more, Saix got to his feet. Once more, his attack ended with him on the ground. Over and over it went, Saix attacking with all he had and Xemnas barely having to move to incapacitate him. Over and over Xemnas beckoned him, until finally Saix struck the ground once more, and could not stagger to his feet no matter how hard he tried.
"Is that all then? So little fight for such big words." Saix struggled to prop himself up on his forearms as the Superior lazily strolled across the dais towards him. The Diviner had known Xemnas was strong, but he had not had the first clue how freakishly unbeatable he was. Saix hadn't stood even the shadow of a chance.
Xemnas came to a stop, looming once more over the blue-haired Nobody. Saix met his eyes, turquoise to molten gold. Then, Xemnas kicked him. Saix fell onto his back with a sharp yelp of pain.
"Do you see now, Number VII? The cog in the machine does not need to know what purpose it serves in the grand scheme of things. Its place is to do as it's told, and no more. So it is with you. It is enough to know your own tasks."
Xemnas advanced on him again, and Saix found himself frantically scrabbling backwards. One of his hands suddenly met nothing, and he nearly toppled off the edge of the dais. Nowhere left to go. Xemnas planted a foot in the middle of his chest to hold him in place. The silver-haired Nobody slowly, regretfully shook his head.
"I know that you spoke not out of maliciousness, but ignorance. You are a good and loyal worker. I regret having to do this. Still, I cannot allow such insolence to go unpunished. It would only encourage the others to think too highly of themselves." Every word was spoken with complete disinterest, but there was something in Xemnas' eyes that made Saix shudder. A cold cruelty that belied his words. "So I will make an example of you."
For the first time since losing his heart, Saix would have sworn he truly felt something.
Fear.
Xemnas' left hand snapped out like a snake, to seize Saix by the chin in a painfully tight grip. In his right, Xemnas manifested an Ethereal Blade and held it almost touching Saix's face, right between his eyes.
Instinct took over, and Saix desperately tried to squirm away. But Xemnas' grip was like iron. Saix was helpless. Xemnas pressed the tip of the blade into Saix's skin, just above his eyebrow, and the Diviner screamed.
The pain was excruciating; nearly as bad as losing his Heart had been. But that pain had been quick, and then done with. Thispain dragged on, as Xemnas slowly carved a line across the bridge of his nose and down to his opposite cheek. Blood coursed down Saix's face. He removed the blade at the end of the cut, and Saix gasped for breath, praying Xemnas was done with his punishment. But he was quickly proven wrong. The Superior dug his blade in once more, cutting another line of white-hot agony to cross the first.
When he finally let go of Saix's chin and stepped off him, Saix collapsed bonelessly to the floor. Blood blinded him, and the pain was so great that he didn't want to move.
"Let that be a lesson to you," he distantly heard the Superior say, in that awful, detached manner of his. "Never forget that you are only here to serve me."
Saix heard the sound of a portal nearby, swallowing up the Superior, leaving the battered young Nobody to bleed on the ground. The sound of six more portals followed. Saix was too exhausted and in too much pain to think much about the fact that he'd been abandoned to deal with his injuries himself.
Warm, gentle hands touched his face, pressing down to slow the bleeding.
"Idiot. I told you." Axel's voice was strangely choked. "Look what he did to you…"
The redhead gathered Saix into his lap, and Saix let him. He wrapped his tired arms around Axel's thin waist. Axel had been right. Saix should have listened to him. Axel ran his fingers soothingly through silky blue hair, cooing to him that it was over now. But that wouldn't fix the mark Xemnas had carved into his face. The mark of his own stupidity.
Saix would never openly question Xemnas ever again.