Hello, hello! There was no fic in March (because I worked on a challenge called KH3 March On, you can read all the prompts I wrote on tumblr on the blog plumedesimili :D ) so here's the first one in a while! And, surprisingly enough, it won't spoil KH3. This is set up in the middle of DDD, so you're safe even if you haven't played yet!
When he opened his eyes, his mind was hazy. He could tell he was in a comfortable bed, tucked a bit too tightly. His head hurt a bit. The light in the room burnt his eyes that he quickly shut again, taking some time to get accustomed to it, to open them again.
He knew this room. He was sure of it. But he couldn't remember where it was.
He grunted, twisting, trying to escape his cell of blankets and white sheets. There was a man sitting next to him, a cup of coffee (now cold) resting on a table. His eyes were closed, his head resting on his chest. He frowned. He knew him.
"Lexaeus?"
There was this strange feeling inside his chest, a melody that wasn't there before, drumming with a regular rhythm. A heart, he realised with a shudder. He had a heart. He was complete again.
Lexaeus stirred in his sleep, then finally lazily opened an eye. When he realised he was awake, he opened his second eye and gave him a smile that he had not seen in a while.
"You're finally awake, Ienzo."
"Ien...zo?" His brand new heart started racing at the name. Why did it sound so familiar? It suddenly hit him. "It's… my name."
The other man furrowed his brow. "Of course it is. We are Somebodies again. We don't need the X."
"Right. So your name is…" He tried to remember, tried harder and harder, but nothing came to his mind. His hands started shaking. Panic seized him. He had not felt panic in so long, and yet here it was, and he was lost, and he couldn't remember Lexaeus's true name, or anyone else's, and that scared him a lot.
"Aeleus. It's okay. Don't force it. After all, you were just a child when all of this happened."
All of this. Ienzo wished he remembered exactly what all of this was. He knew Lex… no, Aeleus meant the day they lost their hearts, but he couldn't remember. He didn't remember his first years with the organization. As far as he remembered, his name had been Zexion, wearing the number VI, and not feeling anything. That Ienzo Aeleus was talking about was a ghost from the past, a kid that would sometimes haunt his nightmares.
"Vexen. Where is he? And the Master? And everyone else?"
"Follow me."
Carefully, he left his bed, taking a couple of hesitant steps before being completely steady. He was in an infirmary, with several beds separated by drawn curtains. Aeleus stopped in front of the first one.
"Here's Even. He hasn't woken up yet." The man he used to know as Vexen was sleeping on the bed, his face paler than it used to be. Ienzo gasped. Back when he was Zexion, he had been taught to not care about others. But there were things he remembered. When he was still a kid, a Nobody but still a boy, he used to have a lot of nightmares. Vexen always took care of him when no one was watching, spending some time with him and listening to him. Then, as he grew up, the man took more and more his distance, and Zexion did the same ; but deep down, he knew this was only to protect them both from Xemnas. Vexen, Lexaeus, Master Ansem ; he was an orphan, but he grew up with many parental figures. His heart remembered. And his heart ached to see Even looking so lifeless.
"Is there anything we can do?"
"Be patient. You woke up. He will."
Ienzo nodded, staring at his feet. He wasn't used to have feelings, and he felt overwhelmed with all these emotions rushing to his heart, to his mind. It was hard to name all these unknown feelings, so he just followed Aeleus in silence, sparing a last glance at Even. On the next bed, there was another figure, another familiar face. This time, Ienzo learnt his lesson. He just looked at Aeleus, not saying the name, knowing he'd get it wrong.
"Dilan…" The massive man muttered, but it was hard to tell if he said it for Ienzo or for himself. He looked very serious. Ienzo knew that Lexaeus and Xaldin spent a lot of time together back at the Organization, and he wondered if they used to be friends before that too. Dilan looked as weak as Even, which was somehow more alarming, given his imposing stature. Weak wasn't a word often used to describe him.
"You might want to take a walk? Visit the town, and see if you remember anything?"
Ienzo frowned at Aeleus. He did not understand. Were they done with the infirmary?
"What about the others?"
"The others?" It was only a shadow on Aeleus's face, but Ienzo saw it. Aeleus wasn't telling the complete truth.
"The others. It can't just be the four of us that are back. We were thirteen."
"Well, Luxord, Demyx, Larx-"
"I know some of them weren't from here. But eight of us were. Where are they now, Aeleus? And is Master Ansem back as well?"
Aeleus looked like he aged ten years in a second. His shoulders collapsed as he sighed, and he stared at the sky.
"Lea is back. You knew him as Axel. " Ienzo took a short step back. It wasn't that he knew Axel. It was that his very last memory as a Nobody was Axel staring at him as the puppet dragged him to his death. He wasn't sure he was ready to face him right now. But Aeleus just shook his head even before he could say a thing. "I saw him wandering in town, but I don't know if he noticed me. He's looking for Isa -Saïx- but I'm not sure he will find him. When I woke up, it was the five of us. Braig -Xigbar- and Xehanort weren't here. As for his Majesty… I don't know. He's not here either. I'm sorry."
That was a lot to take on. Master Ansem taught him how to write, how to tie his shoes, how to be a proper human being. Even taught him all he could about science, about theories regarding the heart, the worlds, the Light. Aeleus taught him how to defend himself. Dilan showed him every hidden passage in the town. His memories were fuzzy, but he still knew all of that. And now, one of them was missing, maybe dead, two of them laid unconscious in beds, barely alive, and only Aeleus remained. How could things ever turn that wrong?
Talking about wrong, they had reached the castle's gates and could see just how destroyed the town was. It felt nostalgic to Ienzo. He knew the place, even though he didn't recall much. He grew up there. In this place that now was in ruins.
"We did that, didn't we? With the Heartless. We destroyed our home."
Aeleus grunted. "It's time to make amends. We were misguided. Let's fix that."
"We have been recompleted…" Ienzo whispered, suddenly feeling incredibly exhausted. There was a lot to take on. He took a deep breathe in.
"You're right. We need to right our wrongs. I'm going to study all I can from Master Ansem's work. Since Even is unwell, I need to work twice as hard. There is just too much we still don't know about the heart. If we want to help people, and stop the Heartless and the Nobodies from spreading, we need to know everything we can."
In the distance, he could see a group of people working to rebuild houses. There was a girl running between everyone, bringing refreshments and cookies. Everyone was helping. Even Lea, in his way, looking for the missing ones, was helping. Ienzo couldn't just sit there and watch.
"This town is ours, and we have to make sure it is once again a safe place. Next time we meet the Guardians of Light, I want to be able to greet them with a smile on my face. Not as opponents. But as friends. I want to help this town, and I want to help the Light. What do you say, Aeleus?"
Aeleus chuckled and put his gigantic hand on Ienzo's head.
"I say we've got a lot of work ahead of us. We'd better start looking for the Master's books."
Last time he stood there, he was six and wanted to become a scientist.
He was now eighteen, and his dream never changed. But for that, he needed to reach one more goal.
To make Radiant Garden home again.
I love the good boi and I had to write about him. Since the fic is spoiler free I will avoid commenting the game in the author's note which is frustrating because there sure are things I'd like to say... Mmmh...
Okay don't read what's between the tags if you don't wanna be spoiled, it's no major spoiler though!
{SPOILER ON}
This fic finally allowed A. to talk, my poor man wasn't given a voice in KH3, here you go dude, probably saying more in this fic than what you ever said in your life!
{SPOILER OFF}
I've got quite a few fics in store so I should post them soon too! The crazy old lady with her thousand stories is back ;D