Sea to Sea
[A/N: A LOT of headcanons that kind of ignore most of the beginning of Days, so be forewarned. Sorry for the huuuuge wait for this. I don't know how many of you actually cared and/or were waiting on this story, but to all of you regardless, I apologize and hope you'll find it good enough to compensate for the wait.]
Thick fluid billowed around her, holding her defenseless body still. She couldn't open her eyes, she couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. Did she even need to?
Faintly, she could hear voices, but she couldn't ever make out what they were saying. They were too muffled, too distant.
The voice was always the same, save for two others that occasionally joined it. It was strict, and cold as ice, and it always held the same, hurried tone.
Who… was she? Was she even alive?
Some life this was, floating soundlessly in an abyss, surrounded on all sides by oppressive fluids, wondering about what was to come, like she was now, even when she knew in her heart that nothing would.
It seemed like years she was left floating there, but she didn't even know how long a year was. She didn't know when a day passed outside her little world. She supposed she would never know. But one day, the voice came louder than before, and she could nearly make out what it was saying.
That was when the air came rushing at her, stale and smelling of chemicals. She gasped it in wildly, suddenly aware of the need to breathe. She'd never needed to before… why now?
Her limp form collapsed onto stone cold tile, and she found herself shivering violently. Fluid dripped from her body, which had once been immersed in it. A small sound made its way past her lips.
"It's ready, I see."
One of the two voices that often visited her echoed from what she assumed to be the entryway.
"Yes. After all that research, it's already proving to be more functional then the first one."
The icy voice that she was used to hearing.
Research? What does he mean?
She gasped out again, clawing at the floor, trying to sit up.
One of the people snorted.
"It's pitiful Vexen. Look at it. We don't need another Roxas running around. That child is troublesome as it is." A smooth, heavy weight fell onto her back and she made another noise in surprise.
Vexen? Roxas?
"Give it a chance Saïx. It'll shape up." The chilly voice that she now could now identify as Vexen said irritably. There was a scoff from the other person (Saïx?).
She shrugged the weight off, shakily rising into a sitting position.
"E-ennghh…" She groaned, shivering and looking up lifelessly into the frozen blue eyes of a man.
"See? I told you."
The man was grinning at another, who looked skeptical.
"Your name is Xion. Put this on." The first man, assumedly Vexen, demanded. He picked up the coat that she'd shrugged off and handed it to her. She took it in feeble fingers, dropping it on the tile floor again almost immediately.
Xion…?
A name… what does that mean? What does a "name" do? Why does it… sound so familiar?
"Xi… on…" The words tumbled from her lips, empty and meaningless.
Vexen blinked, and then smiled, ignoring her failure to get a grip on the leather coat.
"It can talk already!" Vexen applauded. Saïx, seemingly unimpressed, said nothing.
"Xion." She repeated numbly. Her eyelashes swept over her cheeks as she blinked; a foreign feeling. She'd never needed to open her eyes in her liquid prison.
"Yes yes, you're Xion. Can you say anything else?" Vexen prompted. She looked up hazily at him.
"R… Roxas…" she stammered.
Vexen looked ecstatic. His eyes glowed with pride.
"Its progress is truly astounding Vexen." Saïx said flatly. "Let me know when it's fit for battle; that's when I'll praise your "hard work"." Xion frowned a little, much to the delight of Vexen.
"What do you think of that man? Of Saïx?" Vexen asked guardedly after the blue-haired man had left his workspace.
"Don't…" she murmured, shocked she was able to manage anything at all. Vexen waited patiently.
"…and?"
"Don't like." She stated firmly, a pout gracing her features. Vexen's face lit up, giddiness evident.
"Developing the ability to feign emotions this early on… the boy must be influencing her in a stronger way then we imagined…" Vexen muttered thoughtfully.
He smiled and ruffled her hair. Some fell into her eyes. Black… She reached up a hand to touch it. Her fingers were still wet, and the feel of silky hair against her skin made her shiver.
Vexen went off to the other side of the room, out of Xion's vision. She clutched the black coat from the floor and raised it to her eyes. It was as cold and limp as before.
She rose to her knees unsteadily, making various noises of struggle she'd never been able to make before. They sounded strange; it had all been so consistent inside her capsule, always the same churning, with the occasional breaking of the silence by those voices.
With some difficulty, she managed to slip the coat over her head, and her arms through the sleeves. She finally got to her feet. She was a little wobbly, but aside from that, she felt fine. Good, even. She stretched her arms above her head.
Noticing the chill on her hands, legs and feet, she glanced down, wiggling her toes. The motion brought pictures flooding to her head; wet sand under her feet, white foam tickling her ankles, an impossibly bright sun slowly being swallowed by crystal waves, casting gold glimmers on the serene surface of the water.
Her eyes went wide, mouth opening and closing, but no words coming out. That beach, those waters, why did it seem so… nostalgic? I can't explain it; but… somehow, I've been there before…
Vexen, oblivious to her troubles, gestured expressionlessly to the door.
"Your pants, boots and gloves are over there, Xion."
Xion turned and looked, seeing said articles of clothing folded neatly at the doorframe. Slowly, she made her way over, picking them up and examining them with interest. Eventually, she figured out where each piece of clothing went, and put them on. She held out her small hands in front of her, and felt somehow that they didn't look like her own.
And these… gloves aren't the right color.
Surprised by her own though process, Xion merely stared at the closed door, as if expecting it to open on its own. Needless to say, it didn't. Xion gave a short sigh, and turned her attention to Vexen, who was scribbling notes in a well-thumbed notepad with intense concentration. He seemed oblivious to the world around him, so Xion decided not to bother him.
Instead she gave the handle on the door a confused look and half-heartedly tugged on the iron hold. It swung open form the force she'd used, and she dropped it in fright.
"Wh-what is…" Vexen didn't look up, oddly, and Xion went back to attempting to open the door. Eventually she succeeded.
She was looking into a hallway, walls white as crisp paper, shiny. It had a cold air about it, and Xion got the feeling it wasn't used much. Out of nowhere, a pitch black hole erupted from down the corridor, and out came a man with grey hair falling over his shoulders. He held a confident expression, and he smiled lightly when he saw her. His molten gold eyes looked almost demonic.
"Xion…" he said, calmly. His voice was deep and sultry, nothing like Vexen's or Saïx's. He radiated power.
Xion didn't know what to reply. What could she reply?
So she just stared, deep blue eyes drilling holes into the man's figure. She let herself nod, as if to acknowledge his presence, and the fact that he had called her name.
The man looked almost amused.
"Come with me. It is almost time for you to be… properly introduced." Xion was intimidated by the voice that flowed smoothly like water over cut stone, so she took a few steps forwards, still silenced.
The man gestured to the gaping darkness he'd come through, seemingly asking for her to walk through. Sensing her hesitation, he held her shoulder, his hand fitting nicely around it, and guided her through the constantly shifting energy.
Xion soon found that the blackness was a way of getting around, and she emerged in a round room, lined with towering, white marble seats. Various black-coated strangers were resting upon them. The man with the grey hair was smiling eerily, and Xion noticed Vexen appear on one of the seats at that moment. Saïx was there too.
"Today we welcome one of our own, yet another favored by the keyblade; chosen to wear the coat." The man with the grey hair spoke, his voice ringing throughout the entirety of the room, silencing all chitchat that may have been going on. Every person's eyes were on her. She shivered.
"The fourteenth member."
Xion looked at her feet.
"Xion."