2. Mistake. - Saïx, Xigbar, Zexion, Lexaeus and Vexen.

The Castle is normally lost in the quiet and solitude that most places lack. You could go anywhere and just bathe in silence for as long as you wanted. It might drive a normal person to boredom after a while, but Nobodies are far from normal. Therefore, it is perfectly all right for them.

One particular afternoon however, a sudden, bone-shacking, booming quake rattled everything by the foundations. It was shocking enough to wake the dead and then some. Saïx grabbed the railings of the staircase before the rumbling ground beneath his feet made him trip. Xigbar fell from a great height onto the landing with a thump and a swear.

"What the Devil was that?" Saïx asked in a high-pitched voice, eyes wide and hair standing on end.

"I think it came from the basement" Xigbar said, as he tried to fix his cloak and hair.

Saïx snarled to himself. "Vexen. You damn, crazy…"

The Diviner ripped a portal open in the air, the shadows licking at nothing. He glanced at Xigbar. "Come on."

The men stepped through and entered the lower bowels of the basements in no time. They walked through the corridors, through doorways, until they found the right sub-laboratory.

They could tell it was right one, because Five and Six had beaten them to it.

They look a little worse for wear. Lexaeus had coffee spilt all over his lap and Zexion was splattered, covered in some type of sauce (Cranberry.) Both were wearing angered expressions. The Schemer was banging at the steel door with a rock hard fist.

"Vexen! Open up this minute!"

"What is he doing in there?" Saïx demanded - Chest out, glowing eyes narrowed and deadly. Two strolled along behind.

"Gods know" Zexion sighed, running a hand through his sticky hair. "He said he was going to work on some custom-made Ether and two hours later, the world nearly implodes."

"Can't you get in?" Saïx asked.

"This is Vexen's private lab. We don't have the code to the door."

"Can't we just portal in?" Xigbar shrugged, saying it like it was the most obvious thing to do.

"Maximum anti-portal protection" Lexaeus mumbled in his deep, rough voice. "Not even you can teleport in, Xigbar."

The Shooter sounded a long, impressed whistle.

"Vex must be very protective over his little projects."

Saïx was losing patience. He stormed to the door and rudely brushed Zexion to the side.

"Move out of the way, Number Six." He banged on the metallic enterence with full fury. "Four! I want you to open this door right now, before I summon some Berserkers to break it do-"

The door slid open and a cloud of black smog hit him like a brick wall, making him gag, splutter, taking a few steps back. All their eyes widened as something stepped out of the smoke. That something was a soot-covered Vexen with hair that looked like it was pushed back by a freak breeze. His eyes were covered by dirty goggles. Zexion covered his mouth to hide his grin.

"Vexen! What happened?"

"…I believe" the Academic said calmly, "I had added too much of a certain element to the mixture and it caused an reaction."

"Dude!" Xigbar was smirking from ear to ear. "You haven't caused a explosion since… well, since you were Even."

"It was just a miscalculation" the elder told him.

"Oh, Then…" Lexaeus rubbed the point of his chin. There was a small, amused smile on his normally craggy features. "Since no one is harmed, everything is alright… and you look much younger without your hair in your face."

Zexion snorted a laugh like a child, still hiding his smile.

"Thanks for the flattery" Vexen sighed coldly.

"Vexen." Saïx squared up to the taller Nobody, teeth bared. "This mess better be sort out before the Superior comes back."

"It will." Vexen pushed his goggles to the top of his brow. The skin around his eyes was clean, so he resembled a cranky raccoon in negative colour.

Xigbar chuckled even louder. Lexaeus grinned even more. Zexion buried his face into the Hero's side, trying to muffle his sniggering. Saïx looked at them in confusion.

Something like this had happened before - years and years ago - and he was not a part of the little joke.