IV. Hi, I'm Michael with a Meme

In which Axel considers opening a business, Moogles aren't cheap, and Demyx looks into the religion of Fall Out Boy.

"Vexen, you put that vial back where it came from or so help me!" Emryn brandished her pillow threateningly at the approaching scientist. "I've had enough of your 'medical experiments'. Just put on some good old fashion neosporin and slap a bandaid over it!"

"We've gone over this, Oracle, but there is no 'neosporin' here in our possession. Now if you will just allow me to apply this to the wound then―!" Vexen dodged a well aimed attack meant to clock him in the head, cradling a vial protectively. Em swiped the pillow back and forth a few more times, making certain he stayed back. The two scowled at each other, neither willing to back down on the matter.

"Really now," he huffed indignantly. "I would think you'd be leaping at any opportunity given to you to not be sick anymore! If we simply follow through with continuous exposure, then surely your body will have adapted to tolerate magic to at least the barest of minimums. It's not that complex!"

The young woman bristled. "Easy for you to say! You're not the one who has to deal with the 'continuous exposure'!"

Emryn huddled herself into a more secure position, tucking her injured leg out of view. She bunched the pillow up and leaned into it. While she had to admit that the man had a solid idea, she was reaching beyond the point of exhausted with this camaraderie. Certainly, building up a tolerance to foreign substances was beneficial, but forcing her body to evolve for it? She wasn't a fucking Pokémon! And besides, she was fairly certain evolution didn't work like that. She may not have been the best at science, but it was a fairly easy concept to grasp that evolution was something happened over a grand scale of time. (Even Pokémon had to be leveled up before they could evolve.)

A frustrated noise escaped the scientist. He aggressively pointed the green vial at her, before diving into another spiel. "I've been instructed to bring you to the pinnacle of health so that you can begin working right away; by no means am I going to let your refusal to cooperate impede me. You can't wave that pillow around forever! In the end, this burst of strength will have been short lived, and you'll have only accomplished prolonging the inevitable."

"You're not putting anymore magic crap in my cut! I can still feel the effects from the last time you did that!" Emryn recoiled as she recalled the unpleasant experience.

Earlier:

"Interesting."

Emryn opened her eyes at the word, exhaustion begging her to close them again. For the past two days since her initial awakening, she had drifted between consciousness and erratic, fever filled dreams. It was hardly a state anyone would consider helpful for recovery. Another thing that wasn't very helpful was Vexen and Zexion being, well, Vexen and Zexion.

"What is it?" Em craned her head a bit, watching as Zexion put his book down and joined his senior at one of the many tables that were scattered around the room. She resisted the urge to groan. Just as much as she'd been out of commission for the past two day, those two had done nothing but discuss the peculiarity of her magicless-ness. If she had been in better condition then perhaps their conversations would have sounded interesting. As it were, though, it only added to the feeling that the life was slowly being drained out of her. (Things only got worse if they realized she was awake, too. Their questions never. Freaking. Ended.)

"I've been looking over the Oracle's blood samples again, and it appears that something new has found its way into existence."

Papers were shuffled between the two. Zexion leaned closer to evaluate the results. Quietly, Em shifted, until she had managed to prop herself on one elbow. Her heart rate kicked up a notch. There was something new in her blood? What, did he find a different strain of illness this time? Was she going to be sick the entire time she was here?

"Before, I had mentioned that species adapted to survive their environment. At first I had taken this to mean that, with wherever the girl comes from, her species had adapted to survive without magic. Though I found it odd, as everyone I have ever studied did possess some form of genetic coding that allowed for coexisting." Vexen shifted, pointing at something on one of the papers. "And then I found this: An inconsistency between a sample taken from her arm, and a sample taken from the wound on her leg."

Oh god, it was something worse.

Emryn sat up straighter. Her drowsiness was gone, replaced with a sharp alertness that bordered on wariness.

"Where there was no coding for magic, there's now something there that… resembles one." Vexen hesitated for a moment, gesturing abstractly as he tried to find the right words. "A dormant trait at its finest, if I ever have seen one, although it appears to be incredibly malformed. Incomplete and unstable, if you will."

Zexion hummed thoughtfully. "So perhaps there is magic on the Oracle's homeworld, but the need for its use has faded, thus giving way to a transmutation of species; like an organ that's not needed for survival, but is still there regardless."

"It's conceivable, but what triggered the trait into action?" The question brought about a silence long silence, that which was broken by an answer from Zexion yet again.

"Earlier, when the Oracle was more cognizant, I had inquired about the nature of the cut she had received from the Heartless. She said that it had been given to her by a common Shadow, and hadn't done anything but ache until she set foot into the Dark Corridor. Perhaps the wound acted as some sort of conduit, which allowed for the pure energy of the Darkness to trigger the genetic trait out of dormancy?"

"Hmm. Strenuous exposure to foreign forces, accessible through a controlled area…," Vexen began bobbing from side to side as he thought. "Might it be plausible to say that more exposure through the conduit would encourage the body to continue developing a means to preserve itself?"

She didn't like where this was going. Though their words were said about as thoughtfully as if they were considering the weather, there was a cold sort of fascination hidden in the underlying meaning. This, Em had come to learn, usually meant they were about to try something she was not going to like.

"There is only one way to find out," they seemed to agree.

The duo turned sharply on their heels, synchronized in their actions despite preparing to head in separate directions. Zexion moved towards the shelves, where various vials containing only god knew what were organized neatly in little rows. Meanwhile, Vexen's path could be clearly traced right back to where she lay on a cot against the furthest wall. The older male did not smile or make any sort of placating gesture to assure her that this was not going to turn into a disaster (though it was clearly one waiting to happen). Instead he took one look at her wary posture and set his shoulders in a grim line, only confirming what the mounting tension had previously spelled out.

Zexion returned with a small vial, which bubbled with vibrant green liquid. He handed the potion to his senior, stepping out of sight, though she knew he was hovering behind her. Vexen made short work of removing the bandage on her leg, exposing the cut from the Heartless. The cut itself wasn't terribly large, but that didn't make it look any prettier. Three thin slashes were defined under her knee cap, black bordering the edges with dried blood and singe marks from the energy of the Dark Corridor. Emryn flinched as Vexen prodded at the tender insides of the wound.

"Now," he said, shortly before trickling small amounts of potion into each cut. "We shall see if this will finally do something for your injuries and illness."

At first, nothing happened.

And then it hit her.

Emryn made a sibilant noise. A sharp wave ran through her body, causing it to go stiff as a rod, and she fell back against Zexion's open hands.

Once, when she hadn't been careful while fumbling around in the dark for a plug in, she had gotten zapped by touching too much of the inner part of the electrical socket. That feeling was far more painful than being shocked because there was an excess amount of static. Her fingers had felt as if someone had stuck tiny popcorn kernels inside of them and began cooking them, the sensation lasting long afterwards to make certain she remembered the pain. Now she was reliving the moment, only this time feeling like she was five times shy of being struck by lightning.

Even though it was probably but a fraction of what it could have been, the stress overwhelmed her, and she fainted.

Currently:

Emryn had woken up from that with a clearer head than she ever had within the last few days, but she had no intentions of ever letting them try that again.

"You. Dusk." Vexen snapped impatiently at a large Nobody that loitered nearby. It straightened somewhat at the call, causing a lanyard wrapped around its neck to shimmy from side to side. "Restrain her."

"His name is Frank, and you're not dragging him into this! This is a battle between you and me, Vexy." She growled at Vexen like he'd just insulted her own child. (Who was she kidding? Since she'd met the Dusk a couple days ago, she had treated it like it were her own.)

Em waved the Dusk, who had begun sensually walking towards her, away. "And Frank, sweetie, I know we've discussed your walking habits. You don't have to be like that around me. We're cool, you know?"

The Dusk wiggled falteringly, and despite the lack of an actual face, its expression was clearly that of confusion. Did it listen to the angry one in the black coat, who was technically its superior, or did it listen to the weird girl that had given it a name tag on a necklace and started calling it Frank? Both held a significant amount of power over its actions, but which one held more?

Frank didn't know. Frank's job was just to watch the Oracle.

The scientist spluttered, his face reddening in a way that horribly contrasted against his pale blond hair. "Don't call me Vexy. That's not my name!"

If shrugging passive-aggressively was a sport, Em would have left no survivors. "Yeah, well, Vexen's not really your name either, but here we are anyways.

"I'll make you a deal though. Drop the vial and I'll drop the nickname. It's a win-win for everyone, eh?"

"I refuse!" His response was concise but shrill. Emryn winced at the sound, but didn't hesitate to retaliate just as quickly.

"Then I refuse as well!"

The stalemate had reached a full revolution. Neither side wanted to budge on the matter, but Emryn didn't see much of a problem with it. She was better at waiting out these kind of battles. Vexen's patience, on the other hand, was incredibly limited when his test subjects actively worked against him. Even now she could see his resolve waning. It wouldn't be long until he backed off for a little while. He hadn't been joking when he had said that this burst of energy would eventually dissipate. And he would most definitely be there to take advantage of that. Vengefully.

After what felt like time dragging its feet on and on endlessly, Vexen snapped. "Fine! You win for now, but I will get my way eventually."

"Sounds scandalous. Unfortunately, you're not really my type." Man oh man, did she wish she had a cup of tea on hand. Sipping some of that fancy shit while watching Vexen nearly choke himself to death? That would have been priceless.

Emryn sagged in relief as the man stormed off, nearly slamming the vial onto one of his work tables. Once he disappeared from her view she relaxed even further. With a tired grin, she turned towards Frank.

"Well, I don't particularly fancy what's in store for my future," she rolled her eyes, "but let's celebrate this victory anyways. You still have those cards?"

The Dusk shuffled from side to side in uncertainty. She watched as it bent over awkwardly, its lanky body and general upright stance not used to lowering itself, while it swiped around beneath the cot with its long fingers. Eventually, it managed to retrieve a little deck of cards. Where it had originally gotten them, she wasn't sure. She just hoped Frank hadn't stolen them from a certain fate gambling guy known as Luxord. Lord knew she didn't need another Organization member on her ass for petty reasons.

She took the cards from Frank and began shuffling them.

"So, shall we bet on how much time I have before Vexen makes my murder look like an accident?"

Axel sighed dramatically, not that there was anybody else hanging around to hear his unspoken statement. They had all disappeared as soon as the prospect of babysitting their newest (half) member had come up in discussion. Since the girl's recovery was finally underway then it was only a matter of time before it was up to someone else to keep an eye on her. He, unfortunately, had not been quick enough to escape the clutches of responsibility, though really, he'd also seen this coming. Naturally, it was always up to him to take care of the icky jobs.

He ambled down the hallway, Vexen's lab just at the end of it. Underneath one arm, tucked in a neat, dark little ball, was a new set of clothes.

Why was he the one getting stuck on newbie duty lately? Was he going to have to start charging for services that didn't require killing heartless and scouting out new worlds? How much profit was there in the babysitting industry these days? Perhaps he should consider setting up a shop next to the Moogle store.

Granted, there was the fact that he also didn't particularly mind taking care of the newbies. Well, a newbie, anyways. Roxas had gone from a zombie to a dopey kid that could wield a keyblade under his tutelage, so that was a win for him. Roxas was also just a kid. Kids needed someone they could look to and trust. But with this particular newbie… The Oracle was just plain weird. He wasn't certain how to turn that into a stellar employee of the month.

There were other reasons that he could think of for getting stuck with the Oracle, though. He was the one who brought her here, so that more or less turned her into his responsibility. (As Saïx would have said, in a time that seemed so long ago, his habit of picking up strays was going to land him in trouble one day.) What was more, the Oracle seemed to be more at ease around him. Out of everyone, this put him at the biggest advantage for getting information out of her. What was in her head was what the Organization wanted, after all.

And even if the Organization were to, for some reason, change their mind, he wanted the knowledge inside her head. They were complete strangers, yet she had called him by the name he had gone by when he was a Somebody. She claimed she knew about him. What was more dangerous than a stranger that knew all your secrets?

So even though he acted like he was being forced to undertake an unfair chore, he was more than readily taking the opportunity to observe a potential enemy.

Axel turned right, swinging neatly through the open doorway. The room was mostly quiet; only the soft humming and beeping of machinery could be heard, along with― Wait, was that music he heard? He cocked his head slightly to the left. Yeah, definitely music. It was moderately paced, if not erring on the slower side of things, as if to deliberately pronounce the beat and make you tap along with it. Straining his ears a bit, he carefully picked out a few of the lyrics; whoever it was that was singing, he wanted to be remembered as a legend for centuries.

If Axel could feel, he would surely be empathizing with that singer.

He followed the music to its source, and was greeted with something he had not expected to find. His expectations and prior experiences had led him to think he would see the girl laying down to rest, unconscious and feverish. All of that was shot to hell as he walked in on her sitting upright, playing an intense game of cards with a Dusk.

"Well, aren't you looking less like you've been playing with the plague," Axel drawled. He almost wanted to retract the statement as soon as she looked up. Her hair, though pulled up in a low ponytail, shined with grease. The edges were doing their own thing, going crazy, tangled and frizzed as they were. Dark circles rimmed her eyes clearly beneath her lenses, while a generous cropping of acne bloomed the heaviest across her forehead, where she evidently sweated the most. If he was going to be honest, she still looked like death, but he was going to humor her by pretending she didn't.

The Oracle slammed the cards in her hand against the cot, startling the Dusk into dropping what little it had managed to hold on to. She had already covered over half the distance between them before he could even blink.

"Dude, please tell me you've come to break me out of here." She was breathless, nasally, and desperate. "If I have to deal with Vexen trying to cure me any longer then someone's gonna commit a felony! But if you ask me who then I can only tell you to flip a coin, cause it's fifty-fifty up in the air no matter how you look at it."

He couldn't help but chuckle. Was she always this flighty, even when she wasn't delusional with a concussion?

"So I take it that means you're enjoying your stay then?"

She rolled her head with her eyes. "Ah, yes, 'cause this is exactly how I expected to spend my first week in this universe: Sick, scrutinized like a lab rat, and held hostage. The perfect scenario."

"Surely you did expect this to happen, though, didn't you?" He tilted his head back, narrowing his eyes a fraction in challenge. "Isn't that part of your job description, Miss Oracle?"

The young woman recoiled slightly at the title. "Ugh. No. It's not like―," she sighed, tucking a few fingers beneath the rim of her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. "― me. I really set myself up for this, didn't I?"

Silence fell between them. Axel studied her carefully, picking out each nervous tic the longer the moment dragged out. She stared at a fixed point that was on the floor yet anywhere but, alternating between chewing on the corners of her mouth and picking at them with her fingers. Every few minutes her focus would lapse, briefly tuning into her surroundings, and she would tap along with the music, its source he still couldn't find. Immediately after, her mind would leap back to wherever it had been, and she would lightly snap her fingers, as if doing so would help her recall something quicker. Despite the anxious fidgeting, the Oracle was clearly in the midst of thinking deeply.

Finally, after observing her long enough, he decided it was time to move on. Axel shifted, handing her the bundle he'd been carrying around.

The Oracle blinked once before wrinkling her nose, reluctantly taking the clothes from him. "This is very… sweet… of you, but I have no intention of wearing the Organization's version of Gucchi. I'm not a member, and I never plan to be."

Axel wagged his head in mock disappointment. "You say that like you actually had a choice."

Her expression darkened. "I was delirious and hoping you wouldn't take me so seriously as to turn me over to your boss. On top of that, I was under the impression that this was all just a dream," she muttered, referring to when they had met.

"Well, when a stranger calls someone by the name of a dead man, one's gonna take it seriously." A layer of ice lay thinly veiled beneath his words. Really though, how had she not seen events unfolding like this? Axel wondered if she was really something else instead of an Oracle. Oracles at least had their shit together. This girl, clearly, did not.

The girl flinched slightly, but shook it off without a moment's hesitation. She fixed him with a level gaze and a small, almost humorous smirk, saying, "You say that like Lea's actually dead."

He froze. She froze. There was a lot of mutual freezing involved as both parties processed the words just said. This was promptly followed by a display of… censored rage?

"'Od ― ― it! Sonuva―! I have got to stop doing that!" The Oracle pushed her glasses up and furiously rubbed her eyes.

Putting his immediate apprehension on hold, he instead redirected the conversation towards his confusion― though he fully intended to come back to this particular conversation later. "Okay. What was that?"

"What was what?" She lifted her hand and peered at him with bleary eyes.

"You were clearly saying something― I could see your lips moving ―but I heard nothing."

The Oracle shrugged. "I don't really know. For some reason―," she turned and coughed something (Disney?) into her shoulder. "Ever since I stepped into this friggin' universe, I've been on some sort of rated E for Everyone censorship bs. I can't swear, which is downright infuriating sometimes."

"My condolences for your loss." He wasn't certain how something like that was even possible. Certainly, he didn't swear often, but he could still do it with grace and ease. Was it just some sort of world hopping restriction for Oracles only?

"Same," she muttered. The girl then glanced down at her new clothes, thought for a moment, then sighed before looking at him again. "Alright, if you're not here to set me free, then will you at least point me in the direction of the showers? I'm freaking gross and haven't seen the light of clear pores since I got here."

Well, at least she knew she looked bad. Axel pretended to give it a thought for a moment. Truthfully, he shouldn't be letting the Oracle go anywhere without Vexen's say-so just yet, but then again, he didn't really care if Vexen gave his permission or not. This lab only had a regular bathroom, giving the two mad scientists even more reason to stay holed up in here, as opposed to joining the rest of civilization. Her desire to get out of here and refresh herself was an understandable one. He nodded, and the Oracle sagged so much she could have turned into a puddle from all the relief.

Quickly, the young woman hobbled back to the cot, grabbing a bag that had been set against the wall and the source of the music, a small and rectangular object. She bid the Dusk farewell before returning. (The Dusk, however, had orders, and wouldn't be caught staying behind.) Axel checked his stride to match hers, then he began the grand adventure of showing the Oracle where the showers were.

They walked along mostly in silence; the music still played on that weird looking device he had seen, this time playing a song about being immortal. Occasionally, he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Every time he caught her looking away. She had gone back to chewing on the corners of her bottom lip, a concentrated look darkening her eyes. Something was clearly eatin' at her, but the real question was, how was he going to go about picking her brain to find out what?

Perhaps he should give casual conversation a go again. He had kinda made things tense the first time around, he'd admit that much. Or better yet, maybe what they needed was a proper introduction. The whole all knowing schtick that came with the Oracle job just put him off. She knew who was, both as a Somebody and a Nobody, but all he had for her was a placeholder nickname and a title. Since they were colleagues now, then that was just bad for business.

"So." A good of a place to start as any, if he did say so himself. The Oracle looked at him. "I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier. Why don't we start from the top, yeah? Name's Axel. And you are?"

The girl gave him a dubious once over. For a second he could have sworn he saw her doing the arithmetic, the numbers and equations flying around her head as she tried to solve the mystery of the meaning behind his words. He briefly wondered how good she was at math. Part of him was already under the notion that she wasn't very good at it to begin with.

"I'm…?" Her brow furrowed and she adjusted the back at her side, so that it was more securely tucked beneath her arm. "You mean to tell me you don't already know? I would have thought someone would have raided my stuff at any given point when I was unconscious to figure out who I was."

Axel shook his head. "There's a strict privacy policy among us members of the Organization. Once the Superior stated you were one of us the we couldn't go snooping." Though that thought had crossed his mind the moment she had become his assignment. A bit more offhandedly, he added, "What, did you think we just called you the Oracle 'cause it was cooler?"

She ducked her head, shrugging. "I don't really know. I mean, plenty of you guys call Roxas the Keybearer over his actual name, so I just figured you guys really liked titles more than anything."

There was some credit to be given with those words. Most members did like to refer to each other by their titles over their names. If anything, a majority of the time a name was treated either as an insult or as a sign of alliance. Only members that acted close to each other and were considered partners ever actually used a name for casual reasons. He himself was rarely ever referred to as 'Axel' by the others. He had been addressed by his position, number VIII, more than he had ever been called Axel, save for whenever he spoke to Roxas or Saïx.

"Well, while it's true that we do have a thing for titles here in the Organization, we do occasionally refer to each other by name. Besides, what do you take me for? A heathen?"

"You use your front teeth to bite into your ice cream, so yes, I do think you're a heathen."

Avoiding the fact that knowing the little details about him was creepy, he pursued the route of the wounded. "I'm hurt that you think so little of me."

She cast him a slightly more suspicious glance. "So you really didn't go through my things?"

"Positive."

"Only fools are positive." A grin slowly pulled its way up her face. The girl stopped, sticking out her hand. "Alright then. It's nice to meet you, Axel. I'm…"

Warm water gently massaged her scalp, rivulets running through her hair and plastering it to her skin, drenching her. Steam so dense, it looked like mist, floated up and around the young woman. The clash of water against tile competed against the sound of Patrick Stump aggressively trying to convince everyone that it wasn't a scene, but a goddamn arms race. And for the first time that week, Emryn felt refreshed. She was awake, uncongested, and she no longer felt gross; she could almost forget that she was being held hostage by the antagonists of a videogame.

Almost being the key word.

Emryn sighed, reaching behind her with one hand to turn the water off, and the other to fumble for the towel beyond the curtain.

No matter how much she thought about it, dots still remained unconnected in her head. The concept of magic existing in the first place was incredibly vexing. Then there was the matter of how multiple universes also existed, and everyone in those universes had some kind of genetic coding that allowed themselves and magic to function together. Something like that suggested that magic had to be some kind of entity that was everywhere, and constantly in motion, to be able to interact with living beings so freely. This then led her to the matter of the magical status on her own planet and it's inhabitants, and her specifically― all one big topic full of little tangents that branched off and tangled itself into one huge clusterfuck of timey wimey, wibbly wobbly... stuff. Throw in the contents of her current predicament and you get something pear-shaped, which left her no other choice but wanting to get decapitated.

'Later. I'm going to have to organize my thoughts by writing them down later.'

She began to dry off, stepping out of the shower. Even though Axel was outside and would alert her if someone was coming in― since this was basically a community styled shower ―she was quick to put something on. After having thought it through a little while showering, Em had come to grips with wearing most of the things the redhead had provided her with. With her pants ruined, and her shirt smelling of sickness and sweat then there really wasn't much she could do but take what was offered; a tank top, long, slightly baggy pants, and a fresh pair of socks. All in black, unsurprisingly. She refused to trade in her red coat for the Organization trademark, though.

The next few minutes were spent wringing her hair out to an acceptable level of dampness, before she went on a raid of the drawers on the far wall in search of a comb. Once she had found one then the tangles and knots became no more, and her hair was slicked back and tied up in a neat ponytail.

Em strode out of the bathroom with a renewed vigor, her bag at her side and phone tucked safely in the pockets of a surprisingly comfortable pair of pants. Axel leaned casually against the opposing wall. When he looked up both eyebrows flew the coop, and he gave short whistle.

"Wow, so you can look like a normal person." He pushed off the wall and circled her. "Feel better, Michael with a suspiciously placed B?"

Emryn choked on a snort. When she had officially introduced herself her inner meme had decided to make an appearance, and once the vine had popped into her head there had been no stopping her mouth from introducing herself as Michael with a B and a lifelong fear of insects. Axel hadn't bought it, but had still fallen neatly into the trap. In the end, at least he appreciated the humor, and Em gave her real name and a promise to show him the video later.

"There's a bee?" She pulled a mini Spongegore, her voice wobbling for emphasis on the word 'bee'.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's right here." He flicked her square in the forehead.

"Ow!"

Emryn rubbed her head, scowling as Axel did his short, teasing chuckle. "Ready to go back?"

She had scrambled backwards so fast, even Axel was surprised. Balking, Em shook her head hard enough to give herself another concussion, hissing, "Are you that desperate to leave me unsupervised with Death? I'd rather bore myself to tears in the Grey Area over spending any more time in Vexen's lab."

"I don't blame you." Axel shook his head, orienting himself to face the opposite direction they had come from. "Come on then, let's prolong your date with Death."

Oh, so now he takes her where she wants to go.

They walked in companionable silence until they reached the Grey Area, which, surprisingly, was devoid of any signs of life. Well, there was the little Moogle near the entrance, utilizing this lull in business to maintain his shop. Unlike in the games, there was actually a small wooden stand, with all the wares available packed neatly into baskets surrounding it, and a small cash register waiting to be used. The Moogle itself hovered about a foot from the ground, purple wings rising and falling lazily and almost blending in with the black coat. The red ball attached to its head almost looked like a balloon.

Em immediately branched away from Axel, curiosity sparking her interest at seeing the creature up close for the first time.

The Moogle turned around when her shadow fell over it, and it rubbed its hands together almost a little conspiratorially. It's voice was a mixture of a chew toy and a child's when it spoke.

"Today's your lucky day, Miss. I'm having a buy one get one half-off sale on all items, kupo!"

"Oh cool, what d'ya got?" She asked as she was already midway into reaching for something, her impulse control having never gone off the fritz since she's been here. And nevermind the fact that she had money and not munny, she had just always wondered what all the items a Moogle sold looked like.

The potions were the easiest things to recognize and the last thing she wanted to touch. At this point, Emryn believed that she was capable of sensing a vial of green, nasty, painful liquid from a mile away. There was now a permanent loathing in her heart for the items that were supposedly capable of curing ailments.

Her eyes wandered over a basket full of different orbs. Each was colored differently, and faintly glowed.

'Huh, it's kind of like Materia,' she mused, picking up a dusty blue sphere. 'These must be the spells then. This one's probably Blizzard, and the larger ones must be the upgrades, Blizzara and Blizzaga.'

There were others as well, like Fire, Aero, Thunder, even Cure. The Moogle had everything covered. Too bad she had no idea how to use them. And even if she did, she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to anyways. Regardless of her supposed evolution, it didn't mean she'd just be able to start using magic all willy-nilly.

Em put the magic ball down and moved along to inspect the ability augmenting wares. Most of them were rings, but there were a couple chain necklaces and bracelets thrown in as well. She picked up one of the chains, admiring the circular pendant, the jewel in the center resembling a green cat's eye, gleaming mysteriously in the light.

"Oo, an excellent choice!" The Moogle hovered over her shoulder, eagerly moving into a sales pitch. "That charm is the best if you are looking for something in defense. It strengthens one's fortitude, and the stone itself glows in the dark."

"Wow, that is neat. How much does it cost?" She regretted asking as soon as the question left her mouth. She made it sound like she was a serious buyer! What could she buy with a couple hundred in euros and a plastic card?!

What would a Moogle accept with a couple hundred euros and a plastic card?

Before she could even begin to pursue that line of thought, her hopes were dashed to smithereens.

"4,000 munny."

Suddenly the charm wasn't all that neat.

To be fair though, the Moogle had said it was the best. The better the product, the more freaky expensive it was going to be. And there was no way in hell she was going to even begin trying to convert money into munny. She had problems trying figure out American money into European money! (Who was she kidding, she just had problems trying to math.)

Emryn exhaled heavily, slowly returning it to the basket. She turned to the Moogle and ducked her head apologizingly. "I'll have to come back and get it when I, er, actually have munny. I kind of only have currency from my world on me, and trust me, it's different from everywhere else."

The Moogle drooped and guilt flooded the young woman. She quickly stood up and hurried over to the sofas, one of which Axel was lounging on and pretending to take a nap. Sinking into a chair, Emryn pretended that she hadn't set herself up for that either.

"Way to go," Axel mumbled. "You just destroyed our Moogle's wildest hopes and dreams."

She sighed dramatically, placing a hand to her cheek. "What can I say? I'm a natural."

The silence lapsed again, but it wasn't particularly comfortable. After a few more seconds of enduring it, Emryn pulled out her phone and put Fall Out Boy back on, sticking it on the table so the sound bounced better.

It had struck her as odd, when she had first checked her phone after the events in Wonderland, how it wasn't even dead yet. The thing shouldn't have even been on with how long it had been, yet the battery hadn't moved from the seventy-six percent it had been at in her world. In fact, the entire thing seemed to be somewhat frozen. Most of her apps would open, but not load, and she wasn't able to send or receive messages. The same went for making or receiving calls, so she had no idea what was going on back home, if anybody had tried to reach her. The weirdest thing of all, though, was the time.

The clock was frozen thirteen minutes after one. Just like―

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of pounding feet. Emryn looked up just as Demyx practically slid through the entryway, windmilling his arms wildly in an effort to keep himself from falling over. He came to a complete stop by ramming into a chair. He wasted only a couple seconds regaining his breath, before straightening and pointing at her phone in triumph.

"Ha! I finally found it!"

"Found what, exactly? Your motivation to actually do your work?" Axel hadn't even bothered to open his eyes, even going so far as to stifle a yawn.

Demyx shot him a dirty look before returning his attention towards the device. Stepping around the chair, he approached the table and got down on his knees. Emryn raised a brow quizzically. That was a pretty awestruck look on his face. Though could she really say she was surprised? It was portable music and Fall Out Boy― both concepts she was fairly certain the teen wasn't familiar with.

"I've been hearing this all over the castle, and now I've found it!" he whispered, almost reverently.

Emryn stifled a snort. She leaned forward, grinning quirkily. "The band's called Fall Out Boy, in case you're wondering."

Wide, vibrant teal eyes turned towards her, and Demyx gave a single nod in acceptance. It was then that she knew he was a goner. He had been entranced by the Fall Out Boy, he would want more of the Fall Out Boy, he would become one with the Fall Out Boy. Demyx was stepping into the world of Scene music, and things would only continue to escalate from there once he found out about Panic! At The Disco.

Oh, she was going to have so much fun with this.

"You're the Oracle, right?" he asked.

"I really don't like that title, but yeah, I guess I am now." If only she hadn't screwed herself over, then maybe she would be able to give herself a semi-normal introduction. Oh well.

"Ack, sorry! I didn't know your name or anything so I just kinda rolled with the Oracle." Oh gosh, he was just super cute when he panicked. And man, did he make things too easy for her. There was an emphasis on 'semi-normal' when it came to introducing herself, after all.

Her grin widened. "Hi, I'm Michael with a B, and I've had a lifelong fear of insects."

She thought she heard Axel groan something along the lines of 'here we go again', which only served to further her amusement. Demyx opened his mouth to respond, only to suddenly stop and furrow his brow. Her cheeks were starting to hurt the longer he tried to do the math and figure out how a B fit into Michael.

"Wait, Michael? With a B? Where's the B?"

Her voice pitched awkwardly and she practically flung herself against the couch. "There's a bee?"

It took Demyx a while to actually catch the joke and understand why Emryn was slowly suffocating herself via laughter, and when he did then he was laughing too.

"Are you going to introduce yourself like that to everyone?" Axel asked once she had managed to stop dying for two seconds.

"Psh, what do you take me for?" She paused and the redhead opened an eye, spelling out his blatant disbelief as he waited for her to finish. "Of course I'm going to introduce myself like that to everyone."

He rolled his eye as he shut it again. "Whatever. Knock yourself out." But he was smiling too.

Emryn snickered. "I will."

Log 1: I'm Confused

Let's start of with the most confusing thing, shall we? First and foremost, magic? Exists?

-Also, apparently everyone has it programmed into their DNA? But, like, I was without it, and suddenly I had it, but it's a really screwed up trait now because it was almost extinct or something? I― can a gene for magic go extinct?

-Science

-And math

-A mirror sucked me up and spat me into a new world?

-It was Tim Burton's Wonderland? Why? I mean, I like that version more than the cartoon one, but still. Why? Am I supposed to be a cliché?

-There was a creepy/cool clock and a voice that sounded like mine but wasn't? And something about striking a boundary's fall? What boundary? Why did it have to fall? Why did I have to be the one to take the 'Road' that went beyond it?

-1:13

-And then suddenly Kingdom Hearts happens? Axel was there and he did the thing I specifically told him not to do. Traitor.

-"So this is how it begins?" Mansex, what do you mean by this?! EXPLAIN!

-Everyone keeps calling me the Oracle. This isn't really confusing, but still. WHY.

-"Don't forget, you promised." DREAMSELF, WHAT DO YOU MEAN I PROMISED? PROMISED WHAT?!

-Also, how do I turn off my inner Chunk? I need to shut up before I accidentally give away the fucking plot of this game.

-Speaking of, how am I supposed to get around explaining away my knowledge? I just― I have this really bad feeling that if I give away the fact that I'm a) not the only one that knows the plot and b)they are actually a very popular game in my world then it'll drive them to try and find my home? And if they do that then -Darkness will raid it and all hell will break loose. I don't― I just― I feel really paranoid about this for some reason…

-How do I get out of here?

Things that I am not confused about and glad about it:

-Frank is a good Dusk.

-Demyx is pure.

-Roxas is extremely pure. (He seriously thought my name was Michael with a B. Bless him.)

-If I die, it'll be because of them. And I'm okay with that.

I'm gonna have to come up with a better chart to tackle all of that confusion though. With all the free time I suddenly have on my hands (this place is so fucking boring, god help me), then there's not much to stop me from trying to untangle the disaster that's this mystery. And even though you're just a journal, I'm gonna need you to pray for me, both to shut up and to survive this insanity. (ಥ_ಥ) Rest in pieces, me.

This chapter would have been published sooner had I not gotten sick. (Rip) One thing that was pretty interesting to me as I was writing, specifically in Axel's pov, was how I've hardly ever seen anyone make these guys suspicious or weirded out by the OC protag's foreknowledge. Like, I don't know about you, but if someone just came along casually spouting off facts about yourself that hardly anyone knows, then I'd be pretty fucking on edge, y'know? So I'm going to have some fun with that~

Feedback, as always, is welcomed, and I thank you for sticking with me! ٩( •́ ‿ •́ )۶