The darkness of their basement dwelling was entirely welcoming after the harsh, stinging light of Kingdom Hearts which poured into the meeting which had just come to a fateful close. They had taken new names, or perhaps remembering the assured way which Xehanort (or rather Xemnas now) wielded the darkness like a knife cutting the very space around them, the names had taken them.
Aeleus, Ienzo and Even might have felt disturbed, and certainly affronted by the outward show of control. They might have protested, struggled as they accepted their shackles. They might have felt pain at the loss of a vital piece of their humanity. They felt nothing.
And as they now retreated into their humble, new living space, they found that the darkness which consumed them was not a an enduring pain, but rather a constant reminder of the emptiness which was a gaping wound, so horrifyingly apparent, so terribly hollow that it echoed within their minds but never their hearts. Never again.
The warrior locked eyes with the scientist, glaring down, entirely silent as their small child looked on, barely eleven, all but drowning in his organization cloak.
"I could have never foreseen this." Vexen began, breaking the silence shrilly, angrily. His voice cracked in the way that might have indicated fear at some point. His body felt as unwieldy as his new name, and twice as unnatural. "And so Xehanort was planning against us all along, using us to his benefit. How dare he! Such blatant disrespect! And behind Master Ansem's back!" He gestured grandly, as though to catch the remnants of what Even's reactions.
Lexaeus was unblinking and unwavering in his glare. Vexen gulped audibly.
"And our research was so close!" He bemoaned, seeing this as a prime opportunity to unload all his disappointment, perhaps his only one for that matter. Through his anger, there were traces of fear which weaved themselves into speech, a cacophony of excuses. "Ansem would have supported us if only we had the chance to finish, and not be forced into this fool's quest for power and darkness."
Lexaeus remained silent.
"And damned if he would ever attack us at once. No, he had a plan to it all, keeping us neatly in place like chess pieces. Braig-...no, Xigba-...ugh, Number II," He stammered, the names feeling so horribly alien. "was against us all along! He had even ensure that Ienzo was separated from me. Really, it had only been for just a moment and..."
He trailed, the words dying on his lips. His eyes widened. When had Lexaeus turned to face him? When had he gotten so very close? Vexen had not heard a thing, but it startled him now more than ever exactly how large the man before him was. Tight, thick cords of muscle seemed to fight even the confines of his new cloak as his arms remained stoically folded. His seven feet of height seemed so much more towering from this angle.
That expression though; Vexen had never remembered seeing it on him. One might argue that it was tough enough to read Aeleus, but Even might have also argued that there were a great many mindless idiots in the world that didn't bother to see what was right before their noses. He had wittnessed Aeleus upset and quite sad (but in a reserved fashion, as always). He had seen him pleased, both with himself and with his makeshift family at the castle. He had seen him be downright upset.
He had never in his life seen him angry.
"I trusted you to watch him." When Lexaeus spoke, Vexen felt it in his bones. It was soft, grinding like the churning of the earth before a quake; no one could sense it coming.
Vexen opened his mouth to respond and immediately regret it. "I was sent to gather experimental data for Xehanort. It was very important, you see and-" he choked as a battle calloused hand closed around his throat. Vexen felt his feet leave the ground as his shriek of surprise was quieted to a hiccup of a whimper by lack of air. The room spun as his mind dully noted that it seemed that Nobodies had the same ability to die of strangulation as normal humans did; collecting data until the bitter end. Whimpering and clawing, he felt as though he were attacking a statue. The grip tightened, and Vexen might have been surprised at the fact that his thin neck had not yet snapped under the strain. "N-no!" He coughed, agony written clearly on his face as though he could feel it. "Please!" He begged in a mere moan, scratching weakly, achieving nothing. Lexaeus seemed incapable of words, or even thought. Every inclement of sense seemed to be put in suspension, every trace of light snuffed from those royal blue eyes as they looked directly at this squirming, moaning, pathetically dying man in stony silence. In a shadow of a second, a guardian became a warrior.
"Don't do it." An impossibly calm voice interrupted. Instantly, the grip loosened. Vexen crumpled to the ground, his legs giving out on contacting and he hit the floor hard, gasping for air, coughing shakily. "I'm sorry." He moaned, adrenaline and pain bring him stark clarity. He recalled running back through those halls, calling for Ienzo as though his very existence depended on it. He had been a flurry of white lab coats, discarded experimental reports and sheer desperation. Even had known that Ienzo was his top priority, that his safety had been compromised by Even's own stupidity. He sobbed dryly, bitterly, at the loss of an instinct which he could not possibly understand.
Lexaeus in turn, was now staring down at his hands, shocked, devastated, horrified and perhaps even sickened. Aeleus had been set on trying to save Ienzo and Even. Yes, he had trusted the elder apprentice to have enough sense to 'call bullshit' at first
warning, but he had certainly wanted to ensure the safety of every single member of his family, and the scientist was certainly a integral part of that. But the darkness, the rage had been so blinding, he did not even know when he lost control. He looked to the source of the interruption as well.
Ienzo looked entirely at peace, calm and accepting. "Lexaeus, we still need him." Zexion justified simply, his eleven year old voice, airy and soft, almost pretentious by nature, as though this were the most elementary fact in the world. Of course they still needed his former mentor, for now. His small smile seemed to imply that later may be a different story.
"Vexen, I-" Lexaeus moved to help him up, but the other man instinctively drew away, his yelp of terror softened by the abuse done to his throat. Lexaeus felt a wave of nausea wrack his form, nearly doubling him over. He had done this. He had let his strength take control and he was a monster. A brute. Exactly what everyone had known of him from the beginning. "I did not mean-"
"I'm sorry. You're right. It was my fault." Vexen rasped, every inch of his frail, shaken form begging for his life as he saw himself running again and again to save Ienzo in his mind's eye.
Zexion looked on intrigued for a few frozen moments before stepping forward. Half consciously, Lexaeus spotted as Zexion motioned for him to kneel down to his level, wide, innocent eyes entirely unfazed. The warrior did as prompted, kneeling carefully down as though any sudden motion he made would set off his inner anger yet again. Zexion placed a small hand in front of the man's eyes and, without warning, he passed out, falling to the floor with a heavy thud.
Vexen stared at the two of them, amazed, flabbergasted and entirely without words for the first time in what felt like ages. His mouth was agape in a silent scream as Zexion turned and stepped lightly in his direction. He gasped a breath in order to speak, but found himself coughing horsely instead of actually forming any words.
"Don't worry." That eerie, calm voice yet again. Zexion had control of his darkness. How could he possibly have control of his darkness? He was a child. "I won't kill you. Neither will Lexaeus, yet." A small, innocent smile. "In the morning, you won't remember this anyway." He raised his soft hand, much in the same way he used to before asking a question back when he was being tutored. Wrong. So very wrong.
Vexen felt his head spin and the room went black.