I - The Seeker

Sleep is said to hold the key to regeneration. Humans will sleep in order to rest, to renew their energy, to put their mind at ease. And to dream. Dreams give the impression of being in another world, of being someone else. Some might even consider it a rebirthing of the heart. Mortals, all in all, worship the concept of sleeping because of those dreams, craving to escape the problems and pains of their real everyday lives if only for a few hours.

What fools these mortals are.

For them, sleep had long lost its few positive aspects. It left one vulnerable, defenseless. And in this remnant of a world once conquered and forgotten ever since, stranded somewhere between the realms of dream and consciousness, to sleep simply meant to be awake in another world. Completely ignoring how disastrous being fully attentive 24/7 would be for one's mind, unable to rest and shut down for even a moment, Xehanort had claimed this very world as headquarter for him and his vessels.

Are they now?

It was the only possibility to ensure all of them would stay intact until the time to recreate the X-Blade had come, seeing as none of them actually could exist in the outer worlds of light and darkness. But their minds could visit those worlds when their "bodies" were "asleep"; it was ideal to create destruction, chaos and confusion without endangering themselves.

What are you implying?

Can your aversion to them not simply be a disguise of jealousy?

Some of them were exceptions, of course. The youngest version of Xehanort, for example, only resided in the castle when his actual self in the distinct past was asleep. And while he had no recollection whatsoever about his future forms when waking up there, living his life as decided by destiny, he could always pick up on the events and happenings here as if he had never done anything else. It was irritating.

What would I be jealous about? Their foolish tendency to fight a losing battle? The chains to others that will ultimately only drag them to their demise?

Indeed.

You are making no sense.

And the attitude of that boy… How could it be so difficult to live along someone that was actually a younger version of oneself? Original persona or not, it should be common census to pay respect to older and more experienced fighters.

Is that so? Is what we are doing, what we are having here anyhow different?

…Even, or especially if that was the case, why would jealousy arise?

They have something to wake up to.

…Xemnas.

He evaded the boy as often as he could, not needing a snappy little mirror of himself around him. And just like today, the Sleeping Room had been the ideal place for "hiding". Ansem just hadn't expected not being the only one with that idea.

Yes?

Such thoughts are leaning heavily towards rebellion.

…Ironic, isn't it?

The Sleeping Room, how they had uncharacteristically uncreative named the hall full of beds, was supposed to be used only for visiting the other worlds through dreams, and only when given the assignment to do so. So, neither that blue mane across the hall nor this unruly messy silver one in front of him were actually allowed to be here.

That irony could make our usefulness questionable.

No, it does not. They cannot afford to lose us.

Why he had lain down on the bed beside what he secretly considered his only true counterpart, Ansem had no idea. He didn't even remember how their conversation had started, both of them staring at the ceiling the whole time. The fact that Xemnas had pulled up his hood upon noticing him was kind of irritating, though.

We could end up like the other vessels.

Ansem did not like the silence following his statement. 'Xemnas' and 'silence' belonged as much together as 'Behemoth' and 'cute'. Looking to his right, he saw the former leader of Organization XII rising his hand, slowly pushing his hood back as if unsure with himself. Silver hair and tan skin out in the open again, he glanced over to him, wheels visibly turning inside his head. Then he sat up and turned fully towards his Heartless counterpart.

"I probably will either way."

Ansem stared. Only for a moment, but he did. The sight was too unexpected, even for someone with his knowledge of hearts. And when he suddenly felt the presence of another vessel approaching, he couldn't disobey the urge to pull the hood back down again before Xemnas even had time to react, just before Young Xehanort barged in, demanding all their presence in the meeting room for future instructions. Once the boy had left, mismatched eyes met with amber ones. One silver brow raised. Two inching closer together due to frowning. And finally, two grim smiles. The Heartless and the Nobody didn't need more than that to understand each other.

'Sleep is said to hold the key to regeneration. Some might even consider it a rebirthing of the heart,' Ansem couldn't help but muse when they stood up and left the hall side by side, stopping at the door for a moment to wait for the Berserker. If that were true, Xemnas was probably getting too much sleep in this dreadful world.

It was the only explanation for the rebirth of this blue eye and the brown strands.

Kingdom Hearts and all its characters sadly belong to Square Enix, not me. I just hope that style isn't as confusing to you guys as it looks like XD