There are many worlds, but they all share the same sky. And in that sky, each world appears to the others as nothing more than a distant twinkling star. From such a distance, each world seems miniscule and insignificant, but the overwhelming multitude of worlds is undeniable to those who know what those stars really are. One of these worlds is called Radiant Garden, which is still undergoing repairs from the great destruction that happened there more than ten years ago.
In that world there was a ruined castle that had long served as the headquarters of a vicious sorceress named Maleficent, back when the world had been called Hollow Bastion. But before she had moved in, and before Radiant Garden had fallen into Darkness, this castle had been the proud home of a great man who had been the beloved sovereign of Radiant Garden. His name was Ansem, and he was often known as Ansem the Wise. He had shared this home with first four, then five, and then six younger apprentices.
Right up until two of them had tricked the other four into helping them betray Ansem and banish him to the Realm of Nothingness, from which there should have been no escape. But few things are impossible for a brilliant, resourceful, and determined man, and when such a man turns his thoughts to vengeance, and when those vengeful thoughts consume him to the point of obsession…well, such a man can be terrifying indeed. But I digress.
So the years passed, and I'm sure the story that unfolded is one familiar to you. Otherwise, why would you be here? And now the present day finds this castle home, not to a wise old king or a devious sorceress, but to four lost souls who have only recently found themselves…by regaining their very hearts.
Behold Dilan, once known as Xaldin the Whirlwind Lancer, one of Wise Ansem's first four apprentices, and one of his fellows, Aeleus, who was once known as Lexaeus the Taciturn Stalwart. Currently, the two old friends, colleagues, more-or-less brothers, and boon companions in any case, were engaged in a game of backgammon. Because once you've played chess together as many times as they have, it gets hard to find excitement in going through the same old strategic patterns, and you find yourself wanting something with a bit more of a chance element in it. But our focus is not on them, at least not yet, but on the youngest and the oldest of the castle's current occupants, the former presently seated in an armchair in the corner of a different room of the castle.
Meet Ienzo, formerly Zexion the Cloaked Schemer, reading one of his favorite books and, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, actually enjoying it, rather than reading it simply because he remembered that he read it with great frequency and should therefore continue to do so because…well, that's a psychological rabbit hole for another time. The room Ienzo is seated in is easily the most well cleaned room in the ruins, not counting the computer room, and it was thanks to Ienzo himself and for the sake of the room's other occupant, the eldest of the castle's four inhabitants. The man named Even, who had once been called Vexen, the Chilly Academic.
As of this day it had been nearly two months since Ienzo, Aeleus, Dilan, Even, and their friend Lea had awoken in the computer room. Ienzo, Aeleus, and Lea had gotten up and around almost immediately, but Dilan and Even had taken longer to recover. And although he was physically just fine, if a bit lackluster in terms of appetite, Even had made no effort to get out of his bed for any reason but to use the bathroom or something else equally necessary.
It pained Ienzo to see the dullness in his old mentor's eyes, but he knew as well as the others did how harrowing their experiences as Nobodies had been, and particularly the end of those experiences. Ienzo had nightmares of Zexion's death at the hands of the Riku Replica almost every night since he had awoken as a newly restored Somebody, and judging by Lea's complete refusal to get any closer to Even than absolutely necessary prior to his abrupt decision to set out in search of the others, Ienzo had to suppose that Vexen's death at Axel's hands must have been just as unpleasant, or perhaps worse. Death by fire was horrible enough just to imagine, let alone to actually suffer through.
But again, I digress. This story begins on this day, of all days, for a reason, and it was because it was on this day that Even spoke directly to someone for the first time all month. "Ienzo," he said, his voice somewhat raspy from lack of use. Ienzo flinched in surprised, and quickly snapped his book shut and leaned forward.
"Yes, sir? Is there something you need? Are you hungry, or thirsty? Is it too cold in here, or too warm? Do you–"
"Ienzo," Even repeated sternly, "I…am sorry."
Ienzo frowned in puzzlement. "Sorry? Whatever for, sir?"
"Oh, many things," said Even, turning his eyes to the ceiling, looking deeply into the past. "But at present, I'm referring to an occasion when you asked me to put a nightlight in your room; you remember, don't you? It was about a year after you came to the castle, when Lord Ansem said it was time to move you out of Aeleus's room and into one of your own. I was tasked with putting you to bed that night, and you told me you were afraid to be alone in the dark and asked for a nightlight. I laughed and told you that nightlights are utterly superfluous. I was…insensitive. I am…deeply sorry for that, Ienzo."
Ienzo's frown only deepened. "But sir, you were right. There was nothing for me to fear in the dark that wasn't there in the light. It was scary, but I grew out of my childish fears thanks to you."
"No, Ienzo, I was wrong. There is a great deal to fear in darkness, and there is nothing wrong with giving a child a nightlight." Even pushed himself up into a half-sitting position with his elbows and looked at Ienzo again. "I'm also sorry about the times I refused to play games with you, or scolded you for occasionally sneaking a cookie from the jar, or was irritable at you for crying over something I thought trivial…I once said that we did our best to raise you in your late parents' stead. And while that may have been true of the others, I…I could have done better. I don't blame you for looking up to Aeleus more than I; he was by far and away a much better 'brother' to you than I ever was."
Ienzo's eyes widened and he jumped up to his feet, sending his forgotten book tumbling to the floor, landing on its spine and falling open. "Sir, no! You have it all wrong. It's true that I was more comfortable around Aeleus, but…but sir, it was always you that I admired most, even more than our Lord Ansem. That's why I constantly wore that ridiculously small lab coat that I asked Aeleus to make for me. It was always your footsteps I aspired to follow in, sir–"
Even abruptly started laughing–he had found that since regaining his heart, his emotional responses, laughter in particular, were a bit more hair trigger than before–and said, "Ienzo, you don't need to keep calling me 'sir'. You're hardly a child anymore. In fact, I'd much prefer you ceased calling me 'sir' from now on. It makes me feel old. Besides, it's most irregular to call your older brother 'sir'. So from now on, Even it is, yes?"
"I…yes, s–I mean, yes, Even," Ienzo stammered. He even blushed a bit. Then he smiled and said, "Is that what's been eating you alive these last few weeks? Ruminating on how you could have been more nurturing?"
Even's face fell. In fact, it fairly well seemed to drain of color. He flopped back down on his back sucked in a deep, shaky breath. "No, I'm afraid that's not even the half of it."
Ienzo moved to sit back down, noticed his book, picked it up and closed it, and then returned to his seat. "Would you care to talk about it…Even? Talking helps, as Aeleus and Lord Ansem worked tirelessly to teach me all those years ago."
"Hmm…yes, I've been thinking in a vacuum ever since I awoke from that long nightmare," Even mused aloud, "It would do my mind good to share these thoughts with another, if only to make sure I'm not losing my mind over nothing. Alright, let's see–oh!" He lifted his head to look at Ienzo and said, "You should get something to write this down for posterity. I haven't gotten around to recording any of this yet."
"Perhaps you should start keeping a diary," Ienzo suggested lightly as he fished a loose-leaf notepad and a mechanical pencil out of the inner pockets of his lab coat, "I know Dilan finds it quite therapeutic."
Even laughed again, and with a bit more color in his cheeks than before he pulled himself up into a fully sitting position. Ienzo gave his elder a nod to signal that he was ready to begin taking notes, and Even began. "Alright then…we all remember our experiences as Nobodies, just as our Nobodies in turn remembered their previously human existences. What is less clear is where our Nobodies acquired their…let us call them 'attributable abilities'." Ienzo gave him a puzzled look, and Even patiently explained, "Xaldin's wind powers, Vexen's ice, Zexion's illusions?"
"But sir–sorry, Even, we possessed abilities like those before. You, Dilan, and Aeleus always favored ice, wind, and earth magic over other elements, and Braig was always quite adept at teleportation."
"True, but Vexen's ice powers put mine to shame, and the same for Xaldin and Lexaeus compared to Dilan and Aeleus. You had yet to master the basics of magic by the time you lost your heart, let alone being anywhere close to Zexion's level of illusionary skill. Lea was not a pyrokinetic, nor did Isa have Saïx's Berserker powers. And while we have significantly less data regarding Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene's Others, thanks to Lea's reports we do know that Roxas went on to demonstrate a number of abilities, mostly Light-based, that Sora has still yet to exhibit. Notably, it was Roxas who became the first known…entity…to dual-wield Keyblades; an ability that, according to Lea, Sora typically needs to use a Drive Form to utilize."
Ienzo blinked. "I hadn't even realized you were reading Lea's reports."
Even just smiled back. "Now, as I was saying…I've been considering our personalities, and those exhibited by our Nobodies' colleagues, and I've rendered a hypothesis. We know that a Nobody is the reanimated remnants of a being that has lost its heart; the body, soul, mind, and memories, in other words. It is through one's power of will–the very strength of their consciousness and personality, that is–that this reanimation occurs.
"And we know that the strength of a person's will and, by extension, the strength of the resulting Nobody corresponds to the relative degree of humanity of the Nobody's appearance. In other words, the more powerful the will of the Somebody, the stronger the Nobody they leave behind, and the stronger the Nobody, the more human it appears. It thus stands to reason that the most powerful of Nobodies, those who were members of Organization XIII, our own Nobodies included, were generated from Somebodies of the utmost willpower. In other words, beings with inordinately powerful force of personality.
"Then, because these Nobodies were beings whose existence defied the very Law of Nature that binds the worlds themselves, they gained power beyond natural limits. This much we know for certain, so what follows is merely my own conjecture. For starters, one would think that 'power beyond Nature's Law' would mean unlimited power, but seeing as all thirteen members of Organization XIII were destroyed by Somebodies–except for Vexen and Zexion, that is, who were destroyed by Axel and Vexen's Riku Replica, respectively…speaking of which, I feel I ought to apologize to you for the part that Vexen played in Zexion's demise–"
"Not at all," Ienzo said with a casual wave of his hand, "Zexion's destruction was a necessary and inevitable prerequisite for my own recompletion, as Vexen's was for you. That is why I held no grudge against Lea for Axel's much more proactive role in Zexion's death, and Dilan and Aeleus have expressed no interest in tracking Sora and Riku down to avenge their Nobodies either. Water under the bridge, I say."
"Well, thank you," said Even, inclining his head gratefully, "Now…where was I?"
"You were explaining that despite being outside of the limits of Nature, the Nobodies obviously couldn't have truly possessed unlimited power due to the fact that most of them were destroyed by Somebodies who existed within the limits of Nature," Ienzo reminded him.
"Ah, yes. Now, we must ask ourselves why the Nobodies possessed limited power, despite their unnatural natures…er, unnatural states? The only viable hypothesis I've thought of so far is that they were limited by their memories to a human frame of mind, and thus could not wield unlimited power due to their inability to conceptualize, to visualize, and ultimately to internalize the very idea of unlimited power.
"To use their power to any extent, I postulate that the Nobodies had to channel their limitless potential into a limited framework so that they could conceptualize, visualize, and internalize their abilities. Because all of this is psychological, all in their heads as it were, their frameworks developed out of their personalities into what we will call 'attributes'. Because Xehanort had the most comprehensive understanding of what he was trying to create with these Nobodies, it is only natural that Xemnas came closest to actualizing the fully limitless potential of an unnatural being, thus wielding the attribute of Nothingness.
"In fact, I feel we must assume that in order to defeat Xemnas the Keyblade wielders, Sora and Riku, must have somehow achieved a power beyond their own natural limits. It actually seems quite probable, given what all we know about them; Sora, a Keyblade wielder who was never truly chosen and who, by rejoining with his Nobody, gained the unique ability to dual wield Keyblades, and Riku, the first known Keyblade wielder to fall to Darkness, come back, conquer his Darkness, and then achieve harmony with both the Light and the Darkness. And they are the best of friends, and if recent events have taught us anything it is that the power of friendship is nothing to sneeze at; it may well be the key to unlocking the deepest powers of the heart that we tried in vain to understand from a more scientific standpoint."
Even fell silent for a while and looked pensive. Ienzo feared he might have lapsed back into anxious ruminations, but then he came back to the present and continued speaking. "Braig, for all his cunning and conniving, was never really a terribly original thinker, so I'm not surprised his power simply bled into a greater degree of mastery over his chosen specialty; the attribute of Space. Dilan and Aeleus were martial artists who gained their skills through rigorous training and repetition, so it is also natural that their power would manifest as attributes familiar to them; Wind and Earth, respectively.
"You, due to the trauma of your early childhood, were quite given to hiding your true feelings for the most part, and you were always remarkably intuitive even by the high standard set by most children, so Illusion was indeed a fitting attribute for you. It goes without saying that Lea's rambunctious energy would became Axel's Fire, and as for Isa and Saïx…well, I'm not sure how they fit into my hypothesis, but then the only person who really knows Isa is Lea. As for me and Vexen…well, I think I already established that I was a cold person."
"You weren't that cold, si–Even," said Ienzo, folding his notepad shut and returning both it and his pencil to his pockets. He stood and stretched. "You should cast off these gloomy thoughts and join us for," he consulted his wristwatch, "Lunch." When Even looked like he was going to protest, Ienzo quickly preempted him with, "Please? For your little brother, Ienzo?" Even closed his mouth and looked thoughtful, and when Ienzo felt he had cross the line into overthinking he threatened, "Don't make me use puppy eyes, Even. For starters, I've never tried it before, even as a child, so it might wind up looking really weird. Scary even."
"Alright, alright," laughed Even, pulling himself out of the bed. He used the bedpost as a crutch to stand for a moment, and then he pushed off and followed Ienzo out of the room.
"Well, this is a nice surprise," said a smiling Aeleus as Even followed Ienzo into the kitchen/dining room. "You picked a good day to come out of reclusion; Ms. Lockhart brought a pot of her homemade beef stew," he said, pointing at a huge copper kettle sitting on the stove. Aeleus himself was already seated at the table, eating a bowl of stew with a large handkerchief tucked into his shirt. "She's with Leon and Dilan down in the computer room," he added.
"Leon still doesn't trust us?" asked Ienzo. Aeleus shrugged.
"Even if he doesn't," said Even as he fetched a bowl and began serving himself, "I don't see why he bothers playing bodyguard. For one thing, none of us have more than a fraction of the power our Nobodies possessed. For another, that security program still has control of the castle's defense systems, so if we tried anything it would make short work of us. And all that aside, that Lockhart woman's strength is simply monstrous. Anyways, I thought she left?"
"She did," confirmed Aeleus, "But she returned the other day. She thinks Master Ansem's computer might contain data she needs."
"About her friend?" asked Even as he sat down across from Aeleus, "He wasn't even from this world, so why would our computer have anything about him?"
"Actually, I'm not sure that's it. I heard her talking to Dilan about something called 'Jenova'," said Aeleus, staring thoughtfully at his empty bowl and contemplating the pros and cons of a fourth helping.
"Tron is not an 'it', he's a 'he', by the way," Ienzo put in as he ladled stew into his own bowl and joined Even and Aeleus at the table. Aeleus made up his mind and returned to the pot. Even opened his mouth to point out that computer programs have no gender, regardless of the personality they're programmed with, and then decided not to. If he wanted his epiphany about the value of sensitivity to mean anything, he had to start letting silly, senseless sentiments slide. Heh, heh, heh, alliteration.
"My mistake," he said instead. Ienzo blinked in surprise, and then gave his 'big brother' a proud smile. Even felt his chest prickle with that warm, fuzzy feeling he was still getting re-accustomed to, and involuntarily he smiled back. Returning to his seat at the table, Aeleus noticed this and couldn't help but beam as well.
Then Dilan walked in, saw his three cohabitants grinning like idiots at each other, and decided he didn't want to know before making a beeline to the bowl cupboard and then the stew pot. "I see the Professor is out of his sickbed," he remarked as he joined his fellows, sitting across from Ienzo. "Let us hope his improvement sticks. It's high time the lot of us got back out in the world; maybe earn back our citizens' trust."
"You're still upset by Leon's wariness, I take it?" asked Ienzo.
"It's perfectly understandable, really," said Aeleus, "I'm sure the Keybearer told his friends all about what you did at Beast's Castle."
"That wasn't me," Dilan snapped, "That was Xaldin."
"You were Xaldin," Aeleus pointed out. "The only part of you that was missing was your heart. He had your body, your mind and soul, and even your memories. And you have his memories. You and he had everything in common except your feelings, and his lack thereof."
"And that makes all the difference," insisted Dilan, "I never would have tormented that poor…er, 'man', the way Xaldin did."
Ienzo opened his mouth to change the subject before the argument went any further, but Even beat him to it. "I concur with both of your viewpoints," he said, "What Dilan says is true; much as we may have had in common with them, those Nobodies were not the same as us. They more than willingly did things we never even would have contemplated, had it not been for Xehanort clouding our thoughts and twisting our minds. But Aeleus also raises a good point. Those Nobodies used our minds to plot their schemes, used our bodies to execute them, and used our memories to manipulate and injure many hearts along the way. They weren't us, but in a way they were, and we must take some responsibility for their actions." Here again, Ienzo opened his mouth to argue, but Even shot a look his way and pressed on, "We were Xehanort's tools. We must do something to make amends for that."
"We've gone into town every day to help with the restoration," Aeleus pointed out.
"Those of us who weren't busy using an extended convalescence as an excuse to brood about his Nobody's venture as a bona fide Evil Mad Genius or serving as nursemaid to the aforementioned, that is," added Dilan with that teasing smirk of his. "So in other words, just Aeleus and I."
"Hmph. I've been doing much more than playing 'nursemaid'," said Ienzo, "I've been cooking most of our meals, cleaning up the castle, and combing through Tron's databanks for anything that Xehanort might have left there that might serve as a clue to his future intentions."
"You do know that Tron isn't actually the computer, right?" asked Dilan, "He's just a security program that supplanted the failed Master Control Program. Anyways, Lea made it very clear what Xehanort's future intentions were."
"The ends, yes, and a vague outline of the means, but the devil is in the details, Dilan," said Ienzo with a long-suffering tone. "I'm hoping we can find some kind of information about Xehanort's temporal displacement abilities."
"A hundred munny says it hinges on that blasted Keyblade," Dilan remarked.
"I'll take that action," said Aeleus, who decided after a sixth helping that he was ready to rinse out his bowl and leave it to be washed.
"I'm sure there's something more we can do to help than just reconstruction work," said Even, "We're geniuses, every one of us."
"Don't make the mistake of diminishing the intricacy of the restoration effort," said Ienzo, "These people have been at it for nigh on two years now, and they've only repaired a fraction of the damage this world has suffered."
"And in any case, there's only so much the Restoration Committee has allowed us to help with, even after the Keybearer graciously vouched for us," grumbled Dilan. "Not that we should need his good word. Are we not Lord Ansem's apprentices? We should be heading this Restoration Committee, not a scrappy hooligan, an ill-mannered engineer, a hyperactive teenager who thinks she's a ninja, and a flower girl."
(In the computer room with Tifa, Leon unexpectedly sneezed. So did Cid, who was drawing schematics for a luxury Gummi Cruiser at his own computer; Yuffie, who was in the middle of pulling off a highly complex and totally radical mid-air maneuver on Scrooge McDuck's skateboard; and Aerith, who was tending to a hidden crop of wildflowers she had found growing in the ruins of a church…)
"To be fair, Leon is hardly what I would call a hooligan, scrappy or otherwise, and Miss Kisagari is a ninja," countered Ienzo, who then smiled as he went to rinse out his bowl, "And I can't help but notice that you didn't insult Merlin."
Dilan sniffed. "He's a wizard. I'm frustrated, not addle-brained."
"Yet another excellent reason we should find a more productive use of our time and talents," said Even, "Dilan seems like he could use the outlet."
"For someone who's just spontaneously decided to put an end to two months of solid moping and rumination, you do seem anxious to get in the thick of it," Dilan observed as he, too, went to rinse out his bowl.
"…I don't know about you, but I just feel…that I have a lot to make up for," Even said quietly. "Whether or not we ourselves did any bad of our own volitions, and regardless of what our Nobodies thought they were achieving, the fact is that as instruments of Xehanort's Organization–and we were certainly nothing more than instruments to him–we did a lot of damage. We need to correct that. We need to make amends…I need to make amends."
"Well, Aeleus and I have been thinking it over," Ienzo began.
"And I've been steadfastly arguing against it," put in Dilan.
"And we've also been trying to win him over," Ienzo continued smoothly, "We've been discussing what we ought to do, regarding the remnants of Organization XIII."
"Which really isn't our responsibility, now is it?" asked Dilan, "We're responsible for Radiant Garden; let the Keyblade wielders and their allies defend the worlds from ultimate darkness. We haven't the power that our Nobodies had, so we've no business going out and throwing ourselves headlong into danger that will profit us nothing." Throughout this, Dilan remained calm and cool, but his fellows knew him too well; they understood his feelings on the matter as plainly as if he had shouted them to the heavens.
"What do you mean by 'the remnants'?" Even asked, "There's nothing left of Organization XIII. Sora and his cohorts destroyed it all, did they not? Unless…you can't be meaning the True Organization XIII that Lea spoke of? That much is truly well beyond us, considering that Xigbar and Saïx have been further empowered by Xehanort, and Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas himself have been brought back."
"No, I mean the Others," said Ienzo, "There are four unaccounted for Others; just as the four of us and Lea all came back, just as Xehanort came back and brought Braig and Isa with him, so too does it stand to reason that Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene were all recompleted as well. It is likely they came back in vulnerable and unstable conditions like we did–you and Dilan in particular–and there may well be lingering trauma for them. Aeleus and I feel that we should seek them out, assess their states and do what we can to help them, and offer them the chance to lend aid to the fight against Xehanort. They were used as tools just as the rest of us were; surely they might want a chance to make right what their Nobodies did wrong, or at least see justice done to our common tormentor."
"Quite gracious of you, Ienzo," said Dilan, "But you're forgetting that Demyx was a useless twit, Luxord was insufferable and unreliable, and Marluxia and Larxene both plotted to betray us all."
"Well, it seems someone is having difficulty remembering how to use his newly-regained heart," Even remarked coolly. Dilan growled and took a step forward with balled fists, but Aeleus was quick to interpose himself.
"Demyx was a young man whom I suspect had a very undisciplined upbringing, hardly more feckless than others like him," stated Aeleus, staring Dilan straight in the eyes, "Luxord was a good friend, as far as Nobodies go; a good listener with a talent for lifting spirits…again, for a Nobody. And Marluxia and Larxene were already dealt justice at the Keybearer's hand. Axel also plotted to betray us, and actually did so, but we've all agreed not to begrudge Lea for this…even those of us with the most to blame him for," Aeleus added, glancing over his shoulder at Even and Ienzo.
"Besides," he continued, "they were plotting to betray the villain. We can't really hold that against them. And moreover…you are my friend, Dilan, and as much a brother to me as anyone could be, but…Even is right. You have grown callous since we returned to being whole. I like to think that it is nothing more than general frustration coupled with lingering guilt over your–over Xaldin's crimes. But regardless of the reason behind it, you are starting to act more and more like your Nobody. Like someone who simply doesn't care for those beyond his immediate sight."
"Yes, whatever happened to the man who didn't hesitate to abandon his post to save a boy from danger?" Even asked with an honest smile, "I rather miss him."
Dilan was red in the face and his jaw was tightly clenched, but he finally forced himself to speak levelly, "We don't owe those four anything. They were never truly our comrades; we were all just puppets with a common puppeteer. This world, our home, and our citizens; they need us now. We belong here."
Even stood, stepped around the table, and gently laid a hand on Dilan's shoulder. "But Dilan, old friend, that's just it. We were puppets with a common puppeteer, and in that sense they were our comrades. Regardless of our differences, we were their elders and they our juniors; we do in fact have a responsibility towards them. And if they feel the way I feel–the way we all feel–about Xehanort, they will want to help bring him down, yes?"
"Besides, Radiant Garden is in good hands," said Ienzo. "And we were never more than Lord Ansem's apprentices. Without him here, we have no right to claim authority…and without him here, this place will never truly be home. He's out there too, somewhere."
Deep down, Dilan realized two things. First, he wasn't going to talk them out of this fool's errand. Second, and much more importantly, they were right. Fool's errand though it may be, it was the right kind of foolishness; the kind of heroic, selfless foolishness he himself had been well-known for in his youth. The very quality that had gotten him in so much trouble, constantly chided for throwing himself in harm's way without considering the consequences, and eventually noticed by Lord Ansem, leading to the offer of apprenticeship that had forever changed his life. For the better, he liked to think, even after all that he had been through.
"Ah hell," he muttered, casting his eyes to the floor and shaking his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I suppose this means our little vacation is over, eh?" Even smiled, Aeleus grinned, and Ienzo full-on beamed.
"Then it's settled," said the youngest of the four as he stood, "We'll make our preparations and leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, on a mission to find the missing Others and Lord Ansem."
"No, not a mission, Ienzo," said Dilan, "We're going on a quest, like the knights of yore I grew up reading about." Not having a lance on hand, he snatched up the first thing he saw on the counters–a rolling pin–and posed dramatically with it held aloft. The other three couldn't help but crack up laughing.
"Without the ability to open corridors of darkness and the black coats to use them safely, traveling between worlds will require a Gummi ship," Aeleus mused aloud, "And accessing the Lanes Between will require a Keyblade wielder."
"Then it's a good thing we're friends with one," said Ienzo, "And not only is he more than reckless enough to want to join us, but by now I'm sure he's also bored to death of training in the safety of Yen Sid's Tower."
And somewhere worlds away, Lea sneezed.
A/N: Looking back, I think maybe I've overused the word 'brother'. Almost like I was trying to hammer a nail into a wall. Is the wall my head, or everyone else's? Oh well, I don't really want to change this chapter because I think I made it work, hopefully, so I'll just resolve not to overuse it from here on out. I guess I just felt it was important to firmly establish the relationship dynamics and personalities of our heroes in this chapter. Because I'm such a big fan of it, I used the Four Temperament Ensemble to define our heroes' group dynamic; it all fell into place pretty easily, actually. Even's the Melancholic (kind of brood-y and fixated on redemption), Ienzo's the Sanguine (positive outlook, trying to keep everyone's spirits up), Aeleus is the Phlegmatic (by far the most laid-back and the natural choice to play peacekeeper), and Dilan's the Choleric (Cranky and, as future chapters will show, prone to impulsive behavior). Given what little we've seen of the real Even, Ienzo, Aeleus, and Dilan in the games, it seems like a good fit to me. I don't want to make these guys too sappy, but at the same time I feel that if you went for years without being able to feel any emotions and then got them back, you'd go a little overboard with the sentimentality too. Unless you're Dilan; he definitely seems to me like the type who would keep that stuff to himself.
Well, I should stop yakking your ears off and get to work writing the next chapter, eh what? See you then!
Author Out.