Review Corner: Thank you to Tyler Willis and Light Within Darkness for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. It all belongs to Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix. I make NO money off of this work of fiction.
000
Zexion and Myde sat together in chemistry like any other day. Xemnas trudged into class late and looked worn out. He had spent most of the night before explaining being a Nobody to Saïx, so it was no wonder he was tired.
"He looks…out of it." Myde whispered. "Maybe we won't have a quiz today."
Zexion chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Slim chance, there, man." Zexion said.
Myde flushed. "You know something Zexy? I just realized that I have a nickname for you, but you just call me 'Myde'."
"So? You don't like your name?"
"No, it's not that. Not at all. I love my name. But…I was just thinking that you should have a nickname for me."
"Like what?"
"My?" Myde offered.
"My? Like the possessive word?"
"Well, yea."
"Uh…try something else. That sounds a little weird."
"Mine?"
"That sounds worse. And it makes no sense."
Myde rolled his eyes and huffed. "Fine. You come up with something if you don't like my ideas."
"Boys?" Xemnas yawned. "Do I have to separate the two of you?"
Everyone was watching. In the back of the room, someone snickered. Vexen shook his head sadly and gave Zexion a look. Zexion gave the look right back as he answered.
"No, Xemnas-sensei." He responded, almost mechanically.
"Yeah, we're sorry." Myde told him. "We'll be quiet. I promise."
Xemnas nodded and began to lecture again. The class turned their attention back to him. Myde scribbled something on a sheet of paper and slid it to Zexion's desk with his pencil tip. Zexion made sure Xemnas wasn't paying attention before he opened the note.
"What if you mix up the letters in my name?" Myde had written. "Come up with a nickname from that. It'll be our own secret!"
'And then I'll add an 'X' to it and give you a Nobody name.' Zexion thought.
Instead, he scribbled, "Why don't you try that and then give me your ideas?", and pushed it back to Myde.
"Fine, I will." Zexion watched Myde pause and tap the eraser of his pencil against his chin. Myde wrote on the paper again and handed it back. "Here:
Demy…that's all I can come up with."
'Demy, huh?' Zexion thought for a moment before he wrote back. "I like it, I guess. If we can't come up with anything else, I'll stick with it."
Myde grinned from ear to ear and looked ready to bounce in his seat. Knowing him, he probably would have bounced if he wasn't in a class. Zexion rolled his eyes and tried to go back to the lecture, ignoring every time Myde slid the note back to him.
000
"Lea's missing, too?" Xemnas wondered, scratching the back of his neck. "I thought he was just absent; sick or something like that."
"That's what I assumed, but Lumaria said Lea's mother had been looking for him." Zexion informed.
Vexen twirled a piece of hair between his fingers, nervously watching the door every few seconds.
"More people are vanishing." Xaldin informed. "Who knows who's going to be next after Lea."
"Don't say that." Xigbar tugged on his night-black hair. "Talking like will make something happen."
Xaldin brushed Xigbar's hand away. "Someone's gonna say it, Xiggy." He informed. "So why not get it out of the way?"
"Guys, pay attention." Xemnas ordered. "This is serious. First Saïx shows up, which means that Isa is gone, and now Lea has vanished. We're going to have an army if we don't do something."
"So?" Vexen wondered, picking at his nails. "Won't that be good for us? I mean, more people not only means less work, but it means we'll be closer to figuring out the mystery of the Heartless."
Xemnas seemed to think for a minute as Vexen's attention went back to the door. "I suppose you have a point, but…"
"Why are you being so fidgety?" Xaldin questioned.
"I'm not being fidgety." Vexen countered, looking back at Xaldin. "I'm just making sure that no one goes by and hears us is all."
"You're being fidgety." Lexaeus muttered, not meeting Vexen's gaze.
"How would you know?" Vexen sneered. "All you're doing is staring at the damn floor!"
"Better than staring at you."
Xaldin and Xigbar snickered. Zexion rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.
"For Ansem's sake. You guys all waste so much time on these pointless arguments, that we hardly get anything accomplished." The teenager scolded.
"We get enough accomplished." Vexen retorted. "Saïx is almost completely caught up."
"All thanks to Xemnas." Zexion argued. "We haven't really done anything of considerable interest."
"Well…"
"For the love of Radiant Gardens!" Xemnas spoke suddenly. "Be quiet!"
Surprised, the others looked to him.
"That's better." Xemnas nodded. "Vexen, how's that new project coming along?"
Zexion leaned back against the desk behind him. This was just another way of Xemnas starting another boring meeting.
"Very well, actually." Vexen smiled widely. "I've almost got it completed. Replicas." He turned to the other Nobodies. "Basically a recreation of a person. I can make adjustments to personality and aging if I need to, so as to account for time, but I've almost got a perfect replica of Isa."
"I figure we can post one here at school to live out Isa's life." Xemnas informed. "I've got a cover story all put together. Vexen here just needs to program it in."
"So, if I'm getting your terminology right, they're robots." Zexion said.
"Well, to an extent." Vexen scratched the back of his neck and looked up at the clock. "I have class in a few minutes. Can we go?"
"Yes, I suppose so." Xemnas waved them off.
Zexion was the only one who stayed behind. He hopped up onto the desk he was leaning on.
"Are you sure that sending one of these Replicas to school is a good idea?" He wondered.
Xemnas looked to him. "What do you mean?"
"His parents are bound to figure out that it isn't really Isa."
"It's a chance we have to take until we can stop people from vanishing." The older man argued. "But you have class now, don't you? Don't worry about this anymore. Go to class."
Zexion hopped off the desk. "I still thinking you're making a mistake." He admitted.
"Ienzo said the same thing to Xehanort." Xemnas told him as he was close to leaving.
Zexion paused for a moment, not answering, before he walked out the door.
000
Saïx walked into the gray room while Zexion was doing his homework later that night. He plopped down in a chair next to Zexion.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Hi." Zexion didn't look up as he copied a definition from the book.
"Zexion, right?"
"Yeah." Zexion looked up briefly. "Saïx."
"Yeah." Saïx thought for a minute. "You're smart, right?"
"Well, yes, I am. Quite." Zexion responded. "Why?"
"Xemnas tried to explain all of this 'Nobody' business to me, but I don't really understand it."
"What don't you understand?" Zexion put his pen down, closed his book, and sat up.
"Well…everything."
"I'll start at the beginning." Zexion sighed. "A creature called a Heartless is born out of the darkness in people's hearts."
"I understand that part. But after that, it's all blank."
"Alright." Zexion sighed. "When a Heartless devours a heart, the body and soul are left behind. The body becomes a Nobody, which is given life by a soul. If the soul and will from said person are strong enough, the Nobody lives on, like you or me. We are technically just heartless copies of our former selves. I look like Ienzo, the same way you look like Isa."
"And what about those without the strong will? What happens to them?"
"They become a lesser Nobody." Zexion informed. "So far, we only know of one that I have come to refer to as a 'Dusk'."
"Xemnas…never mentioned those…" Saïx said.
"I don't know if the others really know about them, I only see them in my dreams." Zexion admitted, clearing his throat. "Don't mention anything, though, alright?"
"Sure." Saïx nodded. "So we're these bodies and souls left behind, then?"
"In essence, yes." Zexion nodded.
"Okay. Go on."
"We have no hearts, and consequently no emotions. We can pretend to have emotions, but…"
"We really don't." Saïx interpreted.
"Correct." Zexion nodded. "Do you have any memories of being Isa?"
"I know there was something between Xemnas and I, but that's it."
"Your memories should return."
"And if they don't?"
Zexion didn't blink. "They will." He went back to his work.
"Do you have any memories?" Saïx wondered after a moment.
Zexion stopped writing and didn't look up. "Of course I do." He muttered. "I'm a Nobody."
Xemnas walked into the room. "Is it just the two of you in here? Where are the others?" He wondered.
"Hello to you, too, Master." Saïx spoke jokingly.
Xemnas winked at him and Saïx flushed.
"He has a point." Zexion looked up at Xemnas' amber eyes. "That wasn't a proper greeting."
Xemnas ignored the comment. "I need you all in here at once. We have a matter concerning Heartless to attend to."
"What's wrong?" Zexion wondered.
"I'll explain when everyone gets in here."
000
After ten minutes of Xemnas running down the halls and making announcements over the castle's PA system, everyone was sitting in the gray room. Vexen was reading over Zexion's notes for math class, since he hadn't really taken any in favor of daydreaming, and had no idea what they were doing. The other original members were chatting amongst themselves and Saïx was watching the door for Xemnas. At last, Xemnas walked in quickly.
"Good, you all got here." The Superior greeted.
"We've been waiting for you." Xigbar scolded him, stretching.
"Yes, well…that may be, but…" Xemnas tugged at the collar of his jacket. "Anyway, I have done some scans with some equipment from the basement, and it appears as though we have a Heartless problem in the forest on the outskirts of town. I need you guys to go and check it out."
"Why don't you do it?" Xaldin wondered from Xigbar's side.
"I'm in charge." Xemnas said. "You guys are supposed to do things for me, not the other way around."
"Xemnas, you act as if this is a simple request, but it is not. This is an order." Zexion told his leader. "Do not make the mistake of thinking we'll believe it to be anything other."
"If you wish to look at it that way, then fine. I order all of you to go and check it out."
Vexen stood. "Maybe later." He handed Zexion his math notes. "I've got some experiments waiting to be completed in the labs." He left out the door without another word.
"I have to study." Xaldin offered. "Come on, Xigbar. You said you'd help me."
They both stood and left, whispering to each other. Lexaeus looked around and shrugged before leaving.
"I guess it's just you two, then, hm?" Xemnas looked to Zexion and Saïx. "Why don't you two go out and look into this?"
"Why both of us?" Zexion wondered.
"You made a good point earlier, Zexion." Xemnas smirked. "You guys haven't been helping me get Saïx up to speed at all. Consider this your offer of assistance." Xemnas waved his hand and a dark portal opened. "This will lead you right to the spot I want you to check. Bring your weapons." He walked off.
Zexion stood and sighed, Saïx standing soon after. "Let's go." Zexion said.
They walked through the portal together, not saying another word.
000
The portal discharged Zexion and Saïx in the middle of the woods, right around the spot that Zexion and Vexen had fought off Heartless to protect Lea the day before.
"Well?" Saïx wondered. "What are we looking for?" He looked around. "It looks like this place was set on fire."
Zexion nodded. "I think it was." He moved his bangs out from his line of vision to inspect the damage.
The tall trees that had been lush green the day before were now barren, scorch marks trailing up and down their trunks. Flowers and other plants were burned to the ground, only scorches on the ground to show that something had once been there. The smoke from whatever had attacked the forest was just now starting to fade, rising up as fog into the night sky.
"What do you think happened?" Saïx wondered.
"Uh…a fire." Zexion responded, looking to Saïx as his bangs fell back into place in front of his eyes. "What else would leave scorch marks?"
"Well, yeah, I know a fire, but…something had to have started it." Saïx seemed to spot something by a rock and waked over to it. He knelt down.
"What is it?" Zexion wondered, waking over.
"A cigarette." Saïx responded, standing up and holding up the butt to his companion. "I think this was the cause of the fire. It's burnt on one end, see?"
Sure enough, it was a smoldering black as though someone had been smoking it and threw it to the ground without thinking of the consequences. "I wonder whose it is." Zexion sighed. "I don't think it's a Heartless problem."
"But Xemnas said…"
"He could be wrong." Zexion looked around. "It wouldn't be the first time."
"You guys really have no respect for him, do you?" Saïx wondered. "He's in charge, but you treat him like he isn't."
"He…gets on our nerves sometimes, is all." Zexion argued. "Don't look too much into it."
"Alright." Saïx flicked the cigarette to the ground.
It hit the rock and bounced off before landing in a patch of charred grass.
"So we found the source of the fire and the location it started in." Zexion said. "Now all we need is the 'who' and proof that there's no Heartless to be concerned about."
"Look out!" A voice called.
Zexion turned. A shadow Heartless was coming at him and Saïx. Saïx let out a defenseless noise and covered his head with his arms.
"Little good those will do you." Zexion scolded, trying not to laugh at the newbie.
He put up his hand and his Lexicon appeared. The pages flung open and a ball of fire flew at the Heartless under the illusion of a heart. The little creature attacked the fire heart. Zexion watched the Heartless try to devour the fire ball.
"Doesn't it realize it's being burned?" Saïx wondered.
"It thinks it's attacking a heart." Zexion informed. "I control the attribute of 'Illusion'. I can make things seem different than they are. This thing has seen the illusion of a human heart and is falling for the illusion. Where's your weapon?"
"My weapon?" Saïx clenched his fist and a long stick came into it. He clenched his fist around it again and spikes protruded out from the sides. They made a 'chink' noise as they appeared. "You mean this? I don't know how to use it."
"Whack the Heartless with it."
"You mean hit it?"
Zexion nodded.
Saïx nodded and lifted his weapon over his head with both hands. He sent it smashing onto the Heartless. The Heartless vanished in a puff of smoke and a heart rose up to the sky from it. Saïx watched in awe.
"Wow," was all that the blue-haired male could say.
"Nothing of importance." Zexion responded, letting his Lexicon vanish. He turned towards the direction the voice had come from. "Who's there?"
A man with spiked bright-red hair walked out from behind one of the thicker tree trunks. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, but he didn't appear comfortable wearing them.
"Who are you?" Saïx wondered.
The man seemed to think for a minute, but he shook his head and shrugged in response instead of saying anything.
"You don't know?" Saïx wondered.
"You didn't know when you woke up." Zexion told him. "You must be a Nobody, like us."
"A what?" The man wondered. "A Nobody? That's terribly rude."
"It's a species, not an insult." Saïx informed.
The man raised one dark eyebrow. "Sure." He said. "Whatever you say."
"I'm Zexion, this is Saïx. We can help you." Zexion said.
"Help me with what?" The man seemed confused. "Look, I want nothing more than to find out who I am, go home, and crawl under a warm blanket. I don't know what you guys think you can do, but I'm not gonna stick around for one of those creatures to come after me."
"They won't if you come with us." Zexion said. "The Castle we live in has never had a problem with the Heartless."
"Heartless?"
"That creature we killed." Saïx answered.
The man looked between the two of them. "Are you sure?"
"Quite." Zexion nodded once.
"Alright." The man said after a moment's pause. "I'll go with you. Just until I figure out who I am."
Zexion held out a hand and a dark portal formed. "Come." He ordered. "This is the way."
Saïx stepped into the darkness first. The man followed, and Zexion went in last. The portal closed as a black creature jumped at it. The creature bounced off, fell to the ground, and shook its head. It stood, antennae dancing, and ambled off into the distance.
