Another TV Tropes-based chapter title. I'm not going to explain it this time though. I'll lt you all figure it out for yourselves.
Episode 11: Heroic Blue Screen of Death:
Radiant Garden – Community Center; June 2020:
Whoever coined the phrase "Time heals all wounds," Even reflects, has clearly never had an encounter with any incarnation of Xehanort. For although the other members of the Xehanort Survivors Anonymous support group that Ienzo came up with in the wake of the old man's downfall have managed to move on from the trauma of what they've done and what they'd been forced to endure, the scars of Xehanort's influence and machinations would always linger. Not all wounds, the Chilly Academic feels, are healed so easily. But after meeting together for five years, everyone in the support group has learned how to face their trauma and come to terms with what happened to them.
Though they had come to terms with their trauma years ago, they continued to meet in Radiant Garden's community center every month out of a sense of camaraderie. They all kept coming back for the chance to trade stories of what was happening in their lives and to discuss recent Coalition news. And as the group members came and went before meetings they would run into Radiant Garden citizens who would wish them all well. Though nobody in the room was completely blameless for their actions under Xehanort's influence (whether manipulation or straight up possession), the people of the Daybreak Coalition had been remarkably forgiving. It helped that everyone actively worked to atone for their actions.
Of course, Even thought to himself regretfully. Most of us were as manipulated as Riku and Terra were. Dilan and I, on the other hand, have seen, said, and done too much to ever fully forgive myself. While Xehanort had taken advantage of Ienzo's youthful innocence to get what he wanted from Ansem, Dilan and Even hadn't needed much convincing to join up at all. Their scientific curiosity overrode their common sense and their consciences, and they were probably Xehanort's most ardent supporters short of Braig himself. And when they became Nobodies, as Vexen and Xaldin they embraced their lack of emotion, not out of sociopathy, but because it provided a temporary (though they didn't know that at the time) relief from the guilt that had been keeping them awake at night for months leading up to the Fall.
And once they were revived as whole, complete beings once more, all the guilt came rushing back at them all at once. It took six months before the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee released them from house arrest with the promise of redemption in exchange for helping to rebuild the world they had helped destroy. And that time left plenty of room for brooding, angst, and self-loathing. Fortunately, the six months of being confined to their old bedrooms helped burn all the angst out of their system and give them a goal to strive towards. And now that they were respected members of society once more, the guilt had faded. For most of them at least.
While serving in the United Coalition Army helped Dilan and Aeleus overcome their guilt, and Ienzo's decision to hang up his lab coat in shame lifted a psychological burden off the young prince's shoulders, for Even, the guilt and regret still lingered. While the Xehanort Survivor's Anonymous meetings helped give him suggestions to help overcome the turmoil inside himself, the former Number IV of the organization feared that his guilt would never truly be satisfied. Most of the other members of their little support group caught on to his melancholy attitude and inquired as to what was wrong. He explained how he was feeling in regards to the lingering guilt over his actions, and the response this time wasn't from any of the former apprentices of Ansem the Wise, but from Xion
"You've got to stop dwelling on the past," the raven haired girl explained. "Not that what happened to any of us wasn't heinous and wrong, but at some point you need to stop feeling guilty and start moving forward. Otherwise you'll be brooding and moping for the rest of your life." The surprisingly insightful advice from the Organization's former number fourteen was what Even needed to get out of his funk. While they had been civil to each other out of respect for what they'd been through, Xion had harbored a deep resentment towards the Chilly Academic, since he was indirectly responsible for everything she'd been through prior to her "death".
The comforting tone in her voice indicated that after five years, she had finally forgiven him for his role in what had happened to her. And the fact that his own creation had forgiven him finally gave Even the push he needed to forgive himself and move forward. After the meeting, he thanked Xion for her advice, and since Even wasn't really a hugging person, they settled for a friendly handshake. Though Xehanort and Braig had brought them all together with manipulation and lies, the surviving members of the original Organization XIII continued to stick together out of friendship and camaraderie. They had become a sort of large extended family to each other over the years. An emotionally dysfunctional one, but a family nonetheless.
I figured that it had been a while since we got a chapter focused on the other former Organization members, so I decided it would be fun to have a chapter showing the growth and development of Xehanort Survivors Anonymous. I threw in the Vexen and Xion bit because they never really spoke to each other in the games, so I wanted to have them interacting together a little bit. I know I originally said that there would be fourteen chapters, but after examining the material I'd laid out for this series of one-shots, it turned out that I really only had enough slice of life episodes for 12. So after I post the last chapter tomorrow, I'm going to take a few days off before starting on the next installment of the Acolytes of Chaos saga, Kingdom Hearts V: Balance of Power.
