A/N: This is all Ienzo/Zexion's POV, and was part of my rewrite process, but has been rewritten! ;)
I looked down at my many sheets of research, ignoring Aeleus' question and simply staring in shock at the sheets. All my years of research, all my time devoted to researching the heart and observing the outcomes, and this is what it comes too. Possible elimination. I should have never listened to Xehanort, should have never persuaded Master Ansem to build this godforsaken laboratory deep under grounds of Radiant Garden.
"Ienzo! I asked if you were taking part in the experiment this evening." I snapped my head up at the irritated tone in the voice of my best friend.
"No." Simple and choppy was my reply, as I looked back to the papers. Of course I'm not taking part in the experiment. I may only be seventeen, but I'm not stupid. I know that when they stare into the darkness, when they prepare to give up their own hearts to see what it's like on the other side, that there's a strong possibility they aren't coming back. The darkness will most probably overtake them, and they will lose their hearts. So I did the common and sensible thing to do. I backed out with the excuse that it was my boyfriend's birthday. Hiding the papers and scribbling over all my research, to make it certain that only he who desperately needed the information would find them, I hid them in my favourite book, shoving the book behind the bookshelf. I had found the small crevice years ago, and anything I left there wasn't found.
"Hey, where's Braig?" I asked the room, noticing the disappearance of the annoying elder.
"Hopefully, somewhere in his room, preparing for the experiment." Xehanort answered, flipping through his own papers without looking up to answer my question. My gut tingles, and I have a strange feeling that Xehanort too knows the outcome of the experiment.
"Xehanort, should we not go home to prepare?" Even asked, tying his long almost white hair back into a pony tail. Now that's a sight I need to remember.
"Ah yes, fellow apprentices! You may depart for either your rooms or your homes, but I must ask that should you be taking part in tonight's experiment, then I want you here for nine." Xehanort fixed me with a stony glare, which practically screamed at me to get my ass over here tonight or die.
The loud bumps coming from inside my apartment made me sure that Myde was breaking something, even as I turned my key into the lock. He probably has, as he's quite clumsy. Blowing my small bit of blue fringe out of my face, I twisted the knob on my door and pushed it open. Now what I saw was most certainly not Myde breaking something. Well, nothing too big or important. Just my heart.
Myde was pushed up roughly against the counter, in a seemingly passionate kiss with none other than Braig. I inwardly winced at this, but at the moment pure fury and betrayal was shooting through me. Both jumped apart when they heard me enter, Braig scratching his neck awkwardly. I think I May have kept a straight face, but the emotion flooding me may have made it look like a half glare. I moved slowly towards the kitchen counter, making sure to keep my eyes on them all the way.
"Ienzo! I-I- It's not what it looks like!" Myde started to stutter, even more so when I raised a delicate eyebrow in his direction, my finger 'slipping' and pressing a small red button on the underside of the counter.
"Ah... Such a popular line... You won't believe how many novels I've read with those words in... But in the end, what do they mean? I suppose if it really isn't what it looks like, then you were not just kissing my co-worker?" I asked, pulling out a small dagger from the hidden drawer that had opened, examining it in the light and observing the sharp end.
"Um... I'll be going now..." Braig announced to the room, slowly edging his way towards the door. Now, I walk in on my boyfriend cheating on me, and hell I'm mad. That is only to be expected. My heart has just been ripped out, thrown on the floor and then spat on. This was primarily the reason it took me so long to learn to trust him. It seems I got what I deserved really. Don't trust them, don't keep them. Bad Karma.
Now, when I was younger, my mother made me take archery lessons under tight supervision. So naturally, I have a good aim.
"Oh no you don't!" I threw the dagger in Braig's direction, deliberately missing him and letting the dagger sink through the wood of the door approximately 1.2 inches away from his face. "Tell Xehanort I'll be there tonight..." My voice laced with venom that was obvious by the look of terror on Braigs face. He looked at the dagger, before nodding quickly. He raced out the door, and I cast my eyes over to the clock on the mantel piece. 7:34. Well fuck this, I'm not staying here. No point anyway, arguing with Myde on making it better, when by tomorrow I'll be either dead or unable to feel the hate I feel now. I slowly made my way towards the coat closet, finding my black hoodie and shrugging it on. I could feel Myde's blue eyes following me, burning into my back as he practically begged for me to look at him, to say something. I pulled my keys from my pocket, taking off a small one and clutching it in my hand.
Making my way over towards the bedroom, I got down on my knees, my hands searching under the bed for a small, circular object. I found it, and placed it in the same hand as my key, before standing up and facing Myde. His hair was damp and flat, tears cascading down his red cheeks. I only shook my head, gripping his chin in my hand, and grabbing his own hand and placing it in my own.
"I'm leaving... No sh, don't speak. I don't care about what you have to say." His lips started to tremble madly, so I roughly dragged my thumb across it to stop it. "You ruined it... No excuse is good enough. I'm going Hun; don't expect me to be coming back... Oh, and don't search for me, I can see that thought crossing your mind and It won't work. Goodbye." I released my hand from his, leaving in his palm my key and a small diamond ring. I ignored the strangled cry that broke through his lips when he saw what was in his hand, instead slammed the door behind me with force, and made my way towards the lab.
"Ienzo! Why are you here so early? I thought you didn't want to take part in our experiment." Xehanort's voice was smug, as if he knew that I'd end up coming all along, if not for the right reasons.
"I had a change of heart." I threw my hoodie at his face, taking a lab coat from the wall and walking over to the machine he had made to allow the portal of darkness to appear. "You've got all the levels of light in this container wrong, as well as the pure darkness in this one. The darkness needs to be as strong as possible and high light particles will only purify it. You don't want a portal of light to appear now, do you?" I changed around the containers in the machine, emptying one of its golden liquid.
"Ah yes, I can't believe I missed that. Tell me Ienzo, why didn't you help me correct this machine earlier?"
"The same reason you didn't tell the other apprentices what will happen once they step through. I didn't feel the need to." I hissed, taking a small syringe from Xehanort's desk and filling it with darkness from one container.
"How did you find out?" Xehanort asked me, leaning against the desk with a look of confusion on his face.
"I'm young, but I'm not stupid. I'm almost as smart as you. Once I observed the heartless we created, and what they did to the guinea pigs we used, then it was obvious. Those hearts went somewhere. I just hope you know that us becoming nobodies is a very low chance. Even more so if you expect us to retain our human forms." I shook my head as I answered, frowning at the layout of the liquids and scientific chemicals.
"Interesting... I suppose you are wondering why I never told anyone the outcome?"
"I don't need an answer. You didn't want to tell them, because you knew all of them would chicken out. None of them would follow you if they knew they'd lose their hearts. They think that because of their research, they'll be safe. And you plan to keep them thinking that way."
"Very smart Ienzo. And most certainly correct." Xehanort smiled slightly towards me, helping me to fix the machine.
"Who built this, by the way?!" I asked, appalled at how wrong everything was.
"Braig."
I felt a small growl escape my throat before I heard it, which earned me a look from Xehanort.
"Something wrong?"
"I'm not on good terms with Braig at the moment." I answered, giving him a look that said 'shut up'. Xehanort only raised an eyebrow, before passing me a tube of orichalcum +.
I entered the lab with Aeleus at my side, my lab coat still too big for me. I Noticed Braig cast a few looks towards me, but I ignored him, talking to Aeleus. Finally, Xemnas switched the machine on, a large door appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the basement. Xehanort stepped through first, the rest of us slowly following. It was only when the heartless attacked did I realize that Aeleus had bolted the door to keep these things in.
The thing that really woke me up was pain. Red hot, lashing pain that coursed through my body, and practically set me on fire. Then I realized that it was the darkness, attempting to take over me and drag out my heart. But I refused. I twisted the darkness myself, forcing it to bend to my will and do as I wished. Searing pain shot through me as I forced it around, allowing it to sink into my body and be used as only I wanted it to be. Suddenly, a cool, numbing sensation rippled through me, swishing over my body and eventually stopping just over my left breast. One name pulsed through my head like a ripple in the ocean.
Zexion
Next thing I knew I hit the ground hard, my back cracking and my body willing me to wince in pain. But I found I did not care. Not much. Looking up, I saw that Xehanort, Braig, Dilan, Even and Aeleus all stood before me, Aeleus stepping forward and pulling me up by my shoulder. Xehanort stood up and faced me, his eyes devoid of emotion and his hair turned silver.
"You survived." I only nodded, looking at the others. Braig now had a silver streak through his hair, with a new scar and no eye. All that remained was skin stretched over an empty socket. Dilan's dark brown hair had turned black, braided and placed into sideburns. Even now had blonde hair and it was alot shorter. Aeleus was the same as ever, but I could see my own hair infront of my face. Now a slate grey colour, it hung limply, my fringe covering my right eye completely. I couldn't help but silently think that perhaps Braig should have had this hair. Xehanort looked at me.
"What name did you hear as your heart was taken?"
"Zexion."
"Oh 'Zo! I forgot to tell you... What you walked in on earlier, I wasn't getting it on with Demyx... I was teaching the little guy how to kiss you properly... He wanted your 'first time' to be perfect or something..." Braig winked at me, and as the sudden realization that I had done all this for no fucking reason kicked in; I felt a small echo of hatred and annoyance, wanting nothing more than for Braig to be in utter pain, to be screaming for mercy and death.
Strangely enough, Braig started to do just that, screaming in agony for wounds that were not there. Both Even and Xehanort snapped their heads up towards me, Even looking confused and Xehanort intrigued.
"Interesting... It seems you power pain... Are you sending him pain or imagining him in pain Zexion?"
"I was imagining it... And then he just dropped like a hot potato..." I raised my own eyebrows at Braig, who was still hissing in pain. Xehanort muttered for me to get rid of the mental image, and as I did, Braig suddenly stopped writhing in pain, looking like he had never even been harmed.
"Xigbar, what did you see?" Xehanort asked him, shaking his shoulder. His eyes were still emotionless, though.
"It was all the heartless... They were ripping me apart, yet I could still feel my body intact... How did he do that?" Braig/Xigbar looked at me in the echo of shock, eyebrows knitted together.
"It seems we have acquired new powers. Everyone, test your emotions and try to summon something."
I did as asked, a large silver and black book appearing in my hands. A flush of scents attacked my nose; gunpowder, wind, mud, dampened water and darkness. My own scent of lavender hit my nose, and I wrinkled it annoyingly. Examining the book, I noticed it was called Hallucination's volume VI. I opened it, flipping through the pages. A few words were printed across the top of various pages, so I tried the first one I came to.
Next moment, Xigbar was pulled through space and time, into the book itself as the pages blew. I raised an eyebrow, somehow knowing to connect my mind to it and being sucked in myself.
"Hey Braig! Can you see me?" I considered hitting Xigbar, but it seemed he couldn't see or hear me, so I did it anyway. He winced, cursing loudly and shouting muffled curses. I pulled us both out the book, giving Xehanort a strange look.
"Why did that happen?"
"Your book has strange powers. It would be best if you tried them out in our new home." Xehanort looked at his own weapons in his hands, two long light sabers that reminded me of star wars. Dilan had six tall lances, Even and Aeleus had strange looking shields, and Xigbar was holding two guns in his hands. Whereas I held the book.
Typical... I get the book. What am I gunna do with this in battle? Throw it?I was sat comfortably in the library when I saw him again. As always, it was dark outside, rain lashing down on the windows, more violently than before. I had been thinking of the best illusion to trap Axel in. The damn neophyte had burned another collection of my books. Bastard. I had just made my decision, and so I sniffed the air, hoping to catch the smell of charcoal and burnt things. Instead, a new smell had caught my attention. It was the smell of saltwater, mixed in with a small hint of vanilla. How the hell had this person ended up smelling like Vanilla? The scent brought back unusual memories, as well as my first echo of the heart. Everyone, barring Xemnas, had ended up having an echo of a feeling at some point, but I had not. I felt the echo of love, and it was at that moment that I realized it. Myde had ended up losing his heart to Darkness. Well, If I had to put up with him, at least he would not be as hyper or happy. But when I detected the scent coming closer after it had been near the scent of Gunpowder, I quickly snapped my book shut, running to hide behind the nearest bookshelf. I Smelt him come in the room.
"Z-Zexion? I Uh...If You're here, then it's me! Myde! Although, my name is apparently Demyx. Zexion!?" He spoke with such eagerness, happiness. It was impossible. He should be normal! Well, as normal as nonexistent beings can be. He sounds as if he actually has feelings! I walk out from my hiding place, my face its normal stoic expression.
"Tell me. What is your number?" I ask. He looks delighted to see me, but my expression does not falter.
"Well, the guy with the silver hair, he told me it was nine." He answered. I look him up and down.
"And I...I Am number Six in this organization. So you will refer to me as Six or Zexion only." I say, picking my book back up off the floor. I walked towards him slowly. "No annoying nicknames-" He cut in front of me.
"But Braig, I mean Xigbar, he said I could call you Sexy Zexy!"
"No cutting in front of me Nine. Like I said, no nicknames, no child's play and certainly no conversations regarding our somebodies. Do you understand?" I asked. His face dropped, and his eyes lost a sparkle I never noticed before.
"Fine..." He said quietly. I walked even closer to him, placing a innocent, light kiss upon his lips, my tongue slipping out to brush his bottom lip. He gasped and froze, staring at me with a mixture of shock and relief, but I went no further. Instead I stepped back into a portal, A smirk gracing my lips as it closed. Myde had found a way into the darkness. Into this world and back into my 'life.' I can only imagine the echo of entertainment I shall have these next few days. That is, If Myde is now the same as Demyx. He certainly seemed it. After all, on his third finger of his left hand, there rested a ring that seemed all too familiar to me.