This came out sooner than thought, right? Well, enjoy it's over 40 pages.
Did you see the previews for Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Vol. 2? Did you see the preview for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance?
Well...I know what I now have to look forward to...
Anyway, Read and Enjoy, or not, it's not like I'm getting paid or anything.
I don't own anything.
Xinck — Journal 1
Saix, Number II, I think, is the guy who hands outs everyone's missions for the day. He is, without a doubt, the most serious person I have ever met. It's like someone stuck a stick of unimaginable length up his arse. Either way, I think he could just as easily kill me as look at me. I don't think I want to risk getting on his bad side, not at the moment anyway. He said I should keep a journal to chronicle my days in the Organization, for what reason I haven't a clue, but it sounded interesting.
Alright, so I've been in this Organization for a few days and, since yesterday, have been given a crash course in what it is I'm supposed to be doing. Other worlds, collecting hearts, Heartless, etc, etc. of course, because I'm still new I haven't done anything yet and I'm still just training. Larxene was the one who was supposed to be training me in fighting, but she said, and I quote, "I'll only tell you the basics of everything you need to know, but other than that, you're on your own. Now put some pants on, you freak." That was this morning and later that afternoon, she didn't show up for our session, so Marluxia trained me instead.
I had been here for about three days, but I had only met a few members so far. Xemnas, the No. I and leader. He's...It's hard to explain because I'm new at this whole "Powers and Abilities" thing, but from what I feel from when I'm around him, it's like he's super powerful for no reason, as if all the power in the world is inside of him. Personality-wise, I can't read him, it's like he'll be authoritative, sadistic, emotionless and disinterested all at the same time.
I met Saix shortly after I first met Marluxia. You remember me telling you about the eternal stick that is forever fixed betwixt his cheeks, right? If not, just look up on the page.
Larxene is the one who found me and, more or less, rescued me. It's like she's either taking her time trying to train me or is just not interested. I mean, if the goal of the entire Organization is to get their hearts back, then shouldn't she want to make sure I know what I'm doing to help? I've seen her be mean, loud, and very belligerent over anything, even me and Marluxia. But she has been nice too, like she'll be nice and helpful to me one minute, then yelling and insulting the next. I wish she'd make up her mind. I don't know anyone else in the Organization, so either I'm by myself or stuck with Larxene or Marluxia.
Marluxia, from my first impression, is obviously a very vain person obsessed with his appearance. I can't say that I like his hair, but it could only work for him and no one else. He's beautiful. I can say that and not sound weird, right? Right? Despite his obviously beautiful appearance, he speaks very calmly, like he expects everyone at every moment of the day to admire and appreciate his looks. I was all set to just write Marluxia off as annoying, but that was until he said that I had "The Look" He said my symmetrical face, dark features, clear skin and nice cheekbones were perfect for modeling and that I'd have to let him show me some nice exfoliating cremes.
Well...it is only natural that beauty recognizes beauty...
After the short training session, Marluxia told me that I had been scheduled for a physical with a man named Vexen. Great, another weird name. Marluxia left in a hurry and I guess he didn't know that I didn't know how to use those dark portals like everyone else, something that the Superior criticized me for when he found me wondering about the castle. Apparently, I was late for my physical.
Xemnas guided Xinck through a grand door in the Castle. Xinck still found it difficult being around Xemnas without feeling like he was about to fall and hit the floor, but Larxene told him the stronger he got the more he'd be able to be around Xemnas when his presence was kept in check. Xinck shivered, not liking the idea of being around this man longer than he had to.
"This way to Vexen." Xemnas said, he stood aside against a door and gestured for Xinck to go in, but he didn't.
"Why do I need a physical?" He asked, looking at Xemnas's hair as opposed to his eyes.
"Are you questioning me?" He asked, sternly.
"Uh..n-no, I was just thinking that-"
"For your information" He interrupted, "Being inducted into the Organization doesn't mean you are a full-fledged member. You do not have a throne, a gravestone, a codename nor a subordinate-class Nobody. We like to make sure that our members aren't going to just fade away at random before we give all that out. Much less paperwork."
"Uh...ok."
"The Physical will test your abilities, physique, physical and mental health. I hope you aren't afraid of needles."
"Once." Xinck started at random, "I use to have this fear of having a needle going into the hole at the end of my peni-"
"That is disgusting!" Xemnas interrupted before a terrible image invaded his head. He kept the door open and motioned once again for Xinck to enter. "Go in and wait for Vexen. He's expecting you." Xinck looked through the doorway and peeked inside the laboratory. It was a huge, fairly cold room with a dark white/gray ceiling that seemed to go on forever. Huge tower columns, cylinders and rectangles shot up from the ground and ceiling at random at connected to other parts and levels of the lab, some of them crackling and buzzing with energy. On the floor, thin blue lines faded blue and white while zigzagging in fixed motions all through the lab. Monitors were everywhere, displaying nothing but data streams and random, possibly useless, information. Far away from the door, in the back, sealed away in giant tubes filled with a green liquid, were human bodies, hairless, emotionless an unconscious. They floated there in the green liquid, wires and tubes attached to their navels. Their eyes were open, while dead, they stared at Xinck.
"Oh, that is just too creepy." said Xinck, backing slowly away.
"Have fun." Xemnas placed a hand on Xinck's back, shoved the young man inside and quickly shut the door behind him. No. XIV stumbled into the lab, waving his hands around to restore balance. Xemnas pushed him too hard as he could not get his footing. He stumbled, then fell and tumled through the lab before balance was restored with his face smacking against the hard floor.
Before he could recover and pick himself up, lights, seemingly out of nowhere, shined ahead of Xinck on a particular spot. The young Nobody turned his head up to see a giant, floating head staring down at him. It was a large, green, bald head with hollow eyes filled with yellow flames. It screamed at Xinck in a booming voice.
"I AM VEXEN! THE GREAT! THE TERRIBLE! THE...um...FORGETFUL!" Cold, blue ice crystals the width of trees made a circle around Xinck and the giant head, trapping him inside.
Xinck shot up from the floor, backing up until he was up against the ice. He looked upon the face, eyes wide in terror.
"Uh..uh..." He stammered, "H-hello."
"YOU DARE SAY "HELLO" TO ME? VEXEN! THE TERRIBLY FORGETFUL!" The yellow flames in his eyes flared up, nearly leaping out of his head.
Xinck could only look upon the face, unable to speak and nearly unable to breath.
"THE CHILLY ACADEMIC DESIRES AN ANSWE-Did you soil yourself?" Xinck's screaming came to an abrupt halt at the mention of soiled pants and the sudden vanishing of the giant, floating green head. The lights faded and out of nowhere another figure came forward.
"I sincerely hope you didn't urinate on yourself. It's a terrible first impression, not to mention it's rude to relieve yourself in the presence of a superior." The figure said, walking closer as the smoke cleared. He was an older man in his 40s, maybe 50s with long dirty blond hair. Two long, thick bangs framed the sides of his thin face. He had two great big bug eyes, both emerald green.
"I am Vexen." He said, as if addressing a servant. Xinck slid down from the ice and onto the floor, breathing heavily and just staring at the man. "Hello?" Vexen said. No answer. "Can you speak? Tell me your name." He received no answer and he sighed, gripping the bridge of his noise. "Great. Another genius."
After some coaxing with a stick, Vexen eventually got Xinck off the floor and out of shock. Vexen explained that he only did that for theatrics and that he had recently watch The Wizard of Oz on a bootleg DVD. Xinck asked why was it bootlegged when the movie had been out for decades. Vexen replied it was an excellent bargain, especially since it turned out it wasn't such a great copy because half of it was white and black and the other half was in color.
"Uh-huh." Xinck plainly replied.
Vexen led Xinck to a different room from the main lab area. It almost looked like a regular doctor's office, albeit much colder, bluer and larger. Actually. Vexen offered Xinck to sit on the table while he produced a clipboard and some papers.
"Alright then." Vexen said, gripping the board and scribbling down notes, "Let's get things done. I want to get this over with as quick as possible, I do have other things to do, like vivisecting test subjects."
"Vivisecting? They're still alive, won't that hurt?" Xinck asked.
Vexen chuckled and smiled. "Oh yes. I play a little guessing game where I fill different syringes with different levels of an anesthetic. Some subjects get the required dose to nullify sensation, others, haha...aren't as lucky." He flashed an odd, half-smile at Xinck, as if looking at him as a possible test subject. "So anyway, let us begin. Imagine this as a simple doctor's visit. You have been to the doctor haven't you?"
Xinck nodded.
"Excellent. Alright, first question, Have you any allergies?"
"No."
Vexen scribbled something on his paper. "Question 2, Do you know your blood type?"
Xinck nodded. "O Positive. The universal donor, or the universal whore, as I call it."
"Ha, cheeky." Vexen replied with a wry chuckle. "Question 3..."
Vexen continued asking Xinck medically relevant questions concerning his physical health. After which, Vexen drew a blood sample, then tested Xinck's reflexes. "Alright, now hold still. This won't hurt." Vexen bent down by Xinck's left knee cap and tapped it with his reflex hammer. No reaction. "Mm. That's odd." He said. He tapped the right and there was no reaction. "What is wrong with you? Are your nerves shot in your legs or something?"
"No. I don't know why they aren't moving."
Vexen sighed and stood back up, popping his back. "Very well. How odd, you are. Let's check your throat." Vexen produced a tongue suppressor from his coat. "Say 'Ah.'" And Xinck opened his mouth wide, wider, then even wider until the upper roof of his mouth was a good 7 seven inches from his lower jaw, showing off his pointed teeth.
"Fascinating." Vexen marveled at the shark mouth before him. "How did those come about, might I ask?"
Xinck shrugged and said, "Ai ya knoau." Which meant "I don't know".
"Interesting. You are an odd child, indeed." Vexen readied the tongue suppressor. When he placed it on Xinck's tongue, his foot shot into Vexen's shin. "OW! Son of a whore!" He screamed, backing away and cradling his leg. "What was that for?"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! It was just a reflex!"
"I touch your tongue and your legs react! What is that?"
The physical exam eventually went on. Xinck had an X-rays, a CAT scan and, just for the hell of it, ran on a treadmill for a few minutes. The physical exam eventually ended and from a quick scan of the results, Vexen determined that Xinck was perfectly healthy, even by Nobody standards. Then came the mental part of the exam. "Alright, Xinck, we're halfway done. Now I'm going to administer several psychological tests to determine your mental prowess. The first is a Rorschach test. I'll show you some various ink blots and you tell me what you see. Understand."
"Uh-huh." Xinck replied, uninterested. They were both now sitting at a desk on opposite sides. Vexen pulled out a random card from the stack in his hands and presented it to Xinck. The black ink blot ambiguous in shape, but had the vague outline of flowers.
"Tell me, Xinck, what do you see?"
Xinck looked at the ink blot and his mind wandered. He didn't know if it was a random thought or just his mind reacting to its first psycho-test. His mind twisted the black ink on the white paper into people shapes, small people shapes. It was Xinck, human and he was in all of his classes, Kindergarten to High School. Seeing all of those people everyday for 8 hours and hearing them laugh, seeing them smile and have fun, all the while cutting him out and looking down on him made him remember the murderous thoughts he had for the other children around him. He couldn't help it. He knew it was insane and everyday he fought back the urge to grab every idiot around him by the neck and smash their eye against the corner of a table.
"Pretty flowers." Xinck said.
"Interesting..."Vexen put the card down and held up another one. Before he held it up for Xinck to see, he turned it around to get an idea of what Xinck could say. The ink blot was a vague picture of a bug or bird. He held it up for Xinck, "What do you see?"
Originally, Xinck saw clouds. But like always, that changed and the ink turned into the shape of his Father's hands angrily wrapped around his neck trying to kill him. Xinck snorted. "A pony." He answered.
Vexen just stared at the young Nobody's apathetic look. "M'kay." Was all he said. The mental exam continued, not only with ink blots, but other psychological evaluations to determine possibly mental illness, defects or abnormalities. Vexen learned a lot from evaluating Xinck's mental health, things that brought depressing thoughts into his head. Eventually, unable to stand being around him any longer, Vexen ended the tests.
"I believe that's enough for the day." The elder Nobody said.
"Mmm? That's it? We're done already?"
"What do you mean 'done already'? We've been doing this for four hours!" The scientist scoffed and yelled.
"Yeah, "Xinck said, a serene look on his face, "But what I'll mostly remember is the laughter."
"What the-..." The Chilly Academic just eyed the young man and shook his head. He grabbed the new files and reports he made on Xinck and walked away. "I'll trust you to see yourself out." His oice began to echo as he became further and further away.
"Uh..could you help me out?" Xinck yelled to the man, "I don't know how to use those portals!" Still walking away, Vexen snapped his fingers and a Corridor opened up for Xinck.
Vexen's Log No. 665-X
I know that it has been a few weeks since my last log entry, but I felt a sort of obligation to report the most recent of events that have occurred in the Castle.
I bought a new fog machine. I wasn't sure why I needed one, but the salesman was VERY convincing. Now I'm suffering from Buyer's Remorse.
But that isn't nearly as interesting as the newest member to our group.
As you know, the Numbers of the Organization were much larger in it's earlier days, even nearing XXX, but due to the brief encounter with the now annihilated Akatsuki, we lost a good portion. Luckily, our numbers never fell below Eight and the members that occupy the IX-XII seats are much too powerful to die and fade away. I imagine they'll be around for quite some time. And of course the Keybearing No. XIII isn't going anywhere or the entire Organization would be sent back a few years. But for some reason, the XIV seat has always been..,well, cursed. Since the addition of Roxas, the Fourteenth position has been occupied by three Nobodies, all deceased. Two of them were much too garden variety to last long in our group, but the other one, whose name escapes me at the moment, did seem promising. Not too promising now because he's dead. The Superior blasted his head off for some reason. Anyway, just a few days ago, we got a new No. XIV by the name of Xinck. Today I was to give him a mental and physical examination. Physically, he's fine, healthiest person I've ever seen really, but mentally...well...Please excuse me for being blunt, but he is the most fucked up, most depressing kid I have ever known. Way worse than Zexion in his younger days.
I gave him several Psyche tests and gave him a few questionnaires and almost every answer made me want to put myself out of my misery. Slit my wrists, bludgeon myself with a bat or shoot myself. Sadly, I found no knife, no bat and my gun was being repaired. It almost seems that he delights in his own mad despair, I say this because his eyes showed no lies whenever he answered and he even smiled evilly for me. Truly, he is an unpleasant child.
Nonetheless, I see no real future for him. He has the power of elemental Darkness and I'm sure it will only consume him as it does most things. The Superior seemed adamant in receiving the results of his blood tests, his physical and mental exams as well. I suppose I should deliver them to him in person. Perhaps he sees something in Xinck that I don't. Time will only tell...
-Vexen, The Chilly Academic.
Xemnas held the report that Vexen placed on his desk. He didn't bother reading it since Vexen was standing right in front of him. "So what do you make of him?"
"Y-you're not going to read the report?" Vexen asked meekly.
Xemnas sighed, "Vexen I started this Organization to Lead not to Read. You're the scientist, so please, enlighten me on our newest member's "Health"."
Vexen cleared his throat. He was meek in the presence of Xemnas. Vexen had no problem exerting his rank on the members below him, but not only was Xemnas 3 spots ahead of him, Vexen was the weakest member in the Organization. The weakest being in the presence of the strongest. This was something that Vexen desperately wanted to amend. "Well." He started, "Physically, Xinck is in excellent health, although I find it odd that he has fangs for teeth. That could be hazardous to his tongue. One slip and he could chop it right off."
"He can heal, correct?"
"Well, my tests also showed that all common Nobody abilities are present: Healing factor, Enhanced strength, Endurance, speed, agility, durability, all the common things. One abnormality he has is that his skin is a bit thicker than normal, so he is very durable."
"Is that all Physically?"
"No, actually there was another abnormality in Xinck."
"And it is..."
"His blood, Superior, It's...not normal."
"None of us are normal, Vexen."
"It's more than that. You see, Xinck told me that his blood type was O positive."
"Ah, yes, the Universal Whore. Continue, please."
"Usually when a human loses their heart and becomes a Nobody, their blood type stays the same because Nobodies are all body. But Xinck's blood has completely changed into a new type." Vexen rummaged around in his pocket and produced a vial of dark red blood. "As you know, the combination of A and or B antigens determine what type of blood you have, either A, B, AB, or O. But Xinck's antigens can be both A and B, either at the same time or no and he can even have multiple combinations of the two " He placed the vial on Xemnas's desk. "Not only that, but their behavior is...odd."
"Odd? How do you mean?" Xemnas grabbed the vial and swished the red blood around like an excellent glass of aged red wine.
"I'm not sure, but I knew that you wanted to examine his blood for yourself."
Xemnas pocketed the vial and placed both hands on his face in a contemplative way. "What else have you for me?"
"Superior, I believe his mental state is something to be worried about."
"Oh?" Xemnas was only half listening. His thoughts had wandered to the vile of blood in his pocket, but Vexen continued to speak.
"By all definition, Xinck is a Deviant in every dangerous sense of the word. My tests showed that he actually has a 172 I.Q., but his mind is completely unstable." Vexen began to rummage through the files he had to review what he had on Xinck, "He's a sociopath, he has Asperger's Syndrome, Bipolar disorder, slight schizophrenia, Anitsocial personality disorder, slight Melancholia, and Megalomania. He's...he's..."
"Nuttier than Chinese Chicken Salad?" Xemnas suggested.
"Yes! Exactly! Some how, his insanity, no his mind is like controlled Chaos. Like, his head is a dirty room, filled with dirty clothes all over the place, but he knows where everything is. I'd guess that because his mind shuffles so often that mind control would have no effect on him." Vexen straightened up, a bead of sweat strolled down his face, "Superior, all I see for him his trouble. All the data I've collected only points to his fading away."
"So what does the Good Doctor suggest we do then?"
The scientist sighed, "I think it is inevitable that Xinck's darkness will only implode in on himself, so if we are to make use of him, we best do it quickly, Superior."
The blood vial came out of his pocket again and the Superior viewed it in the palm of his hand. "Oh, I intend to." He said.
"Come on, Xinck, get your ass up!" Larxene yelled abusively. Training Xinck was just not in her. He wasn't used to fighting for his life like this, dodging knives and bolts of lightning. "If you can dodge a bullet, you can dodge lightning! Xigbar!"
"Who?" Xinck yelled, picking himself up.
"Yo!" A man's gruff voice called from the other end of the room. Xinck saw a man with an eyepatch, silver and black hair tied back into a long ponytail. He had a silver and purple contraption in his hand. "Hey!" He waved at Xinck.
"Uh...Hi" Xinck waved.
"Fire!"Larxene screamed and Xigbar let fly a bullet stream barrage from his laser gun. Xinck screamed and ran in the opposite direction, jumping and dodging bullet after bullet.
"Hey, guy, I'm Xigbar!" The man called out, "I know this is a terrible time for intros, but, you know, hey, welcome to the program, as they say.!"
"Very nice to meet you!" He screamed his reply. Both his swords were in hand and as he ran he manged
Larxene groaned, stomping her foot in frustration. He wasn't supposed to not get hit. "If you can dodge a bullet, then you can dodge some lightning at the same time!" She aimed an open palm at her protege and pale lightning gathered at her fingertips. She effortlessly released bolts of lightning at Xinck who barely dodged them.
"Waagh!" He screamed, lightning on his heels, "Larxene! Stop it! Please!"
"Quit bitching and run, bitch!"
"Don't worry, kid, you're doin' fine!" Xigbar yelled, reloading and continuing his assault. He was taking it easy on him, not warping his bullets so that they curve toward him. Xigbar wasn't sure if his healing factor had kicked in yet and he didn't want to bruise the new guy. Not yet anyway.
Xinck slipped, Xigbar hit him in arm and he fell. "Gotcha now!" Larxene screamed and sent jolt after jolt into Xinck's body. Lightning shot out and around No. XIV, his body twitched, his eyes bulged and he screamed.
"Well, I believe my work here is done." Xigbar said, his gun leaving him in a flurry of purple light. He came over to Larxene and held out his hand, "My payment?"
The woman scoffed, stopped electrocuting Xinck and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a baggie filled with marijuana, "Here, enjoy yourself." She said, thrusting the bag into his hands.
He scoffed, "You know I will." A Corridor wrapped itself around Xigbar and he left. Larxene came over to Xinck, sprawled out on the floor and still twitching. She sighed and looked at the charred body of her protege, "So, what have we learned today, Xinck?"
"Uh..oowahh..mmmy...body..ow." He mumbled.
"Uh-huh. Today we learned that when there is lightning about, watch out for bullets."
"Oooh..oohwahhh..."
Later
"So how's your kid doing with his training?" Axel asked. The Eight member of the Organization sat in the Kitchen with Larxene. Axel was spoon feeding himself a bowl of green jello while Larxene nursed a glass of Liquor.
"Eh." She replied with little enthusiasm, "He's doing alright, I guess. He's been here for almost a week and I finally taught him how to dodge. I guess tomorrow I'll ask Saix to get someone to teach him some basic magic."
"Good, good. How's his fighting?"
"Interesting. Me and Marluxia hadn't really touched on it since it seemed like he at least knows the basics of his own weapons. Oh!" She nearly chocked on her drink with laughter, she held a loose hand to her lips, "Oh my god, do you know what his Joke Weapon is?"
"What is it?"
"A Yo-Yo! Two of them! When he got 'em, they smacked him in his eye!" She laughed, nearly spilling her drink on the table. Axel didn't find it too funny, shoveling more Jello into his mouth.
"Any idea where he is now?" Axel asked.
"What? Oh, you know he didn't know how to open and close Corridors so I gave him a map of the Castle and told him to come and find me and that he could only get around by teleporting."
"Are you sure that's safe? I mean, he could accidentally end up somewhere he's not supposed."
Another scoff, "I don't care. At least it's keeping him occupied and out of my hair."
"What if he gets in trouble? They'll blame it on you, right?"
"Oh, come on! Just because I found him doesn't mean I have to be around him every minute of the day! I found him, I fed him, I clothed him-"
"You know he's not a dog, right?"
"You know what I mean, you dick." She smirked oddly.
"Hey, skanky, I'm just saying that Saix is more likely to blame you than Xinck if he gets into someplace he's not supposed to be, you know, since you did find him."
Larxene flashed Axel a look and Axel cut his eyes and smirked in return, then coolly added, "Got it memorized?"
The woman rolled her eyes, "So what about you? How's your little teat-sucker, hmm?"
"Hey!" Axel protested, "He's doing fine, better than yours anyway. He finished all his training last week and already started on solo missions. And, to add insult to injury, he's already gotten his Redux. He just has to name it."
"Oh, his Redux, oh..." She gave a distinguishing nod. Even she knew it wasn't easy to obtain a Redux. "So, what's he turn into, a fairy? Ha!" Before Axel could respond with a comeback, both their heads turned to the air to the ceiling left of Axel. Darkness swirled in midair and shaped into an oval. Xinck came falling out of the Corridor yelling, bashing his jaw on the corner of the hard kitchen table as he made his way to the floor.
"Oh, look, Axel. See? The problem resolved itself." Larxene commented, paying her subordinate little mind. Axel rolled his eyes in response.
Xinck struggled to place his hand on the table, gripping his face with his other hand. He pulled himself up, stumbled then spoke, "O-okay, Larxene. I-I found you." He stammered.
"Uh-huh." She said. "And what have we learned?"
"I can teleport anywhere I want now?"
"Yes, and...?"
Xinck shrugged, unsure of how to answer.
"Now when I ask you to go to the store, you can't complain about the long walk back, right?"
"I..I guess..."
"Oh, god." Axel laughed, "You send him on errands?"
"Well, Axel." She snapped, "I need things!"
Axel only laughed harder, much to Larxene's annoyance. Xinck just stood there, his attention now on a loose thread on his coat. Axel stopped laughing long enough to introduce himself, "Hey, I'm Axel, No. 8. Got it memorized?"
Xinck turned to him and replied. "It's four letters and a number, yeah I think I got it. I'm Xinck."
"Ha ha, good one."
Another man came walking into the kitchen. "Hello, hello, all. And how are we this fine day?" Luxord asked, going to the refrigerator. He pulled out a chocolate pudding cup and took a seat across the table from Axel, but before addressing him or Larxene, he took notice of Xinck, "Oh. Well, it's the new fellow." He stood up and offered his hand and a smile, "Luxord, No. X. How do you do?"
Luxord was the only member in the entire group who was liked by all, having no trouble smiling and offering conversation to pretty much everyone. Xinck wasn't used to shaking people's hands, but did so anyway. "Xinck, Fourteen."
"Oh, so how are you enjoying your new profession, if I may ask?"
"It's alright, I guess," He shrugged with his reply, "I like your accent. English, right?"
"Yes, yes it is." He flashed a look at both Larxene and Axel, "See? He likes it." He looked to Larxene and her glass of liquor, "Isn't it a tad bit early for that?"
"You're one to talk, Mr. Peppermint Schnapps at 6 A.M." She replied, taking a drink.
"What I do in the privacy of the loo is my business and no one else's."
"Speaking of bathrooms." Xinck started, "I noticed that-"
"You speak when spoken to!" Larxene snapped and struck him across the face. Everyone else fell silent. Xinck cringed and cradled his bruised cheek. Inside of him, his chest vibrated, his ears rang and his presence acted on its own. Depending on the situation, this could be taken as a threat.
Larxene drunkenly scoffed, "I wish you would try something. I'll use your freaky teeth to rake up the leaves around the Castle!"
Axel leaned over to Luxord to whisper, "We don't have trees around here do we?"
"None that I've seen." Luxord replied, "She's speaking that sweet, sweet drunk language."
"Now come on!" Larxene wobbled up from her chair and opened a Corridor. "We have a training thing. S'go!" Before Xinck could reply, Larxene kicked him in the rear into the Corridor and she followed suit.
"Aw, poor lad."
"Poor lad? Are you serious?" Axel said, swallowing more Jello and talking with his mouth, "Did you feel his presence. He wants to kill everyone!"
"Oh!" Luxord cringed, seeing the gooey green Jello in Axel's mouth, "Swallow you food, mate!"
"Sorry."
"I'm just saying that dealing with the raging, temperamental tempest that is Larxene is no easy task. I'm sure he hasn't had a chance to get to anyone else in the group and, as a consequence, always drifts back to Larxene no matter how bad she treats him."
"You mean she's beat on him before?"
"Several times." Luxord reached into his pocket and produced his cellphone, "Just the other day, Xigbar sent me a picture of Her beating him into a corner." He held the phone up to Axel and the picture was of Xinck curled up into a corner as Larxne was kicking him savagely in the chest.
"Dude. Not cool."
"Indeed, not cool." Luxord slipped the phone back into his coat.
"But, come on, you have to admit that the guy is just a bit...off, right? I mean he just seems a little creepy."
Luxord shook his head, "You can't always judge a book by it's cover, my friend. Perhaps we should try to get to know him first, eh?"
"Nah." Axel shook his head. He finished off the rest of his Jello. "I think I'll just stick to magazines. The dude is just way too out there for me. How about you, why don't you try to get to know him?"
"Oh, I'm much too busy. Oktober Fest is soon and I'm taking time off." Luxord raised his Jello for a toast and Axel obliged him. "It would seem that this entire subject was all for naught then, eh?"
"It would seem so."
"Oh! Maybe you can introduce Roxas to him?"
"Oh, no." Axel shook his head repeatedly, "No, no, no, no."
Xinck
I've been here for about a week now, gotten to know some of the members and finished with the basics in fighting. Well, actually Marluxia and Larxene didn't really touch on my swords, they said I looked like I knew what I was doing with them when they saw me fight. I had some time to myself and I started playing around with them and I decided to give them a name; Thanatos, after the God of Death. I named them that for two reasons. One, when I had a heart, I had a fascination with death. Don't know why. And two, I went out on a tutorial mission with Marluxia about Recon and Heartless extermination and I killed every Heartless...and a bystander. I killed him so effortlessly, the blade just flew from the hilt and the next thing I knew, my chain was reeling his dead body towards me. Marluxia helped me get rid of the body after he complained that I can't go around killing people on a whim.
Okay, okay, okay, I almost forgot, I found out that because I'm a Nobody, I get superpowers! Bitchin', right? Right. Okay, so I'm strong and really fast. I can heal, apparently, and I'm durable. I think that's why Xigbar shot me and I only felt a little shock, or why when Larxene shocked me I didn't die. Other than that, Larxene told me that I'm supposed to get other abilities that are just for me, so there's that to look forward to.
I think of it like this: There are Fourteen people in this castle including m and I've met Numbers, I, II, IV, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII ( I don't know the numbers of the the guy with the eyepatch or the guy with the swirly blonde hair). So that means I haven't met numbers III, V, VI, and XIII. You don't think they're hiding from me, do you? Eh, probably.
Alright..um...that's all I have to say for now, Journal...so I guess I'll just cap my pen and slip you underneath my bed. Oh! I almost forgot, I finally know how to do Corridors and just the other day I took a "Little Trip" to Bed Bath and Beyond and "acquired" a Kind-size bed. I mean, come on, give a 15 year old the power to be anywhere at anytime, well of course he's gonna misuse it. That's just common sense.
Xemnas Reports-Entry 227
I've had some free time lately and in that time I have taken up a small side project. I have taken an infamous drug known to the public as "LSD", also known as Blotter Acid, Blotter Cube, Boomers, Blue Acid, and my personal favorite, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". I have taken this drug and studied it's effects, then did several molecular tweakings of my own and, hilariously, I now have no idea what it does. So, as a result, I "acquired" several "willing" human test subjects and gave them each a sample of the modified drug in it's clear, liquid form.
The results were...less than what I expected. One subject, a woman, I think, by the name of Rosie O' Donnell, began to savagely beat her head against a steel chair. A man, name of Tom Cruise, began clawing his eyes out all the while denying homosexual allegations. Frankie Muniz's head simply exploded and Jimmy Fallon began coitus on the headless body then started eating it.
I had to put them all down like dogs.
Obviously, the human testing didn't go well. I'm failing to see the use for this Modified Drug. But the thought of Nobody testing has been in mind recently. And the drug is as clear as water. I suppose I could test it on my subordinates.
Note to self: Remind Saix not to drink the water.
Unseen, Now Forgoten...
"Fascinating! Simply fascinating!" Xemnas exclaimed uncharacteristically. He was in his own private laboratory. It was smaller and much less extravagant than Vexen's but it had all the necessities and equipment: lab table, microscopes, vials, chemicals and all the like. This was Xemnas's private lab and the only way to gain access to it was if you were with Xemnas and currently, Xigbar was the one keeping the Superior company. He wasn't doing anything, just resting sitting at the counter adjacent to Xemnas as he inhaled the smoke from his marijuana cigarette.
"Do you love me, Mary Jane?" Xigbar sang to himself, "Don't you play no games Y-y-y-yeeeeaaahhh!"
"Xigbar, take a look a this." Xemnas said. He was sitting at the lab table, a microscope under his eye. "Vexen was correct when he-"
"I'm Rick James, bitch." Xigbar said.
"Excuse me?" Xemnas shot a look at Xigbar, considering releasing his presence to remind Xigbar of his place.
"It's from Chappelle's Show. I miss that show. I'm so high right now."
"I wish you wouldn't smoke in here."
"You're not the boss of me!" Xigbar snapped.
"Yes, I am."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Sorry."
Xemnas sighed and rolled his eyes. The only reason he allowed Xigbar to be in his current state was because he secretly found Xigbar's pot-headed antics amusing. "Just take a look at this." He ordered and Xigbar sauntered over to the microscope to take a look. He peeked through the whole with his good eye and held his weed daintily in between his thumb and pointer.
"Okay, what am I looking at? Goop?"
"Blood." Xemnas corrected. "The blood of the Fourteenth."
"What's so special about it? Smoke weed. Huh? What's so special about it?" Xigbar took his eye away from the microscope.
"Did you notice how the Red Blood cells followed each other around in differentiating patterns over time?"
"I was trying to, but they were moving too fast, so I just looked at the spiky black dots around them. I'm so high right now." Xigbar started swaying back and forth on his heels.
"Those are his White Blood Cells. They're black, yet perfectly healthy." Xemnas moved back to the device and looked at the sample of blood. "I cannot match any other blood type to these cells. Xinck has an entirely unique blood type: Blood Type D-. I believe that even his blood is connected to Darkness. Vexen was right, he is Deviant in more than one sense of the word."
"I am so high right now."
"Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. Do you know what this means?"
"You know I don't." Xigbar said. Taking a seat next to Xemnas, and finishing his smoke.
"We can use Xinck's blood in the Replica Program." Xemnas got up once more and wandered over to the cabinet where he kept his chemical samples. He opened it and every shelf was filled with multiple vials filled with periodic elements in their liquid forms, excluding the ones that were much too dangerous to keep in liquid form. Xemnas bent down to the very bottom shelf and pulled at it's handle, revealing an empty, dark space. He reached in and pulled out a red box and brought it back to the table with Xigbar.
"What's in there, I'm so high right now?" Xigbar asked.
Xemnas opened the box and revealed a very small vial, so small it was comparable to a large thimble. In it, was a swirling black and white liquid with noticeably large red dots swirling in the still liquid. The liquid appeared to be swirling with it's black and white contents, but that was only it's natural appearance. It was still and calm and the red dots floated lazily in it.
" 'S'that?" Xigbar slurred.
"Sciatium."
"Gesundheit."
"That's what I said: Sciatium, In liquid form." Sciatium was the periodic element that was Darkness , currently unknown to a large portion of people in the universe. Xehanort and Ansem the Wise had managed to uncover the method of producing this element, but it was too dangerous and time consuming to do so. Darkness in it's solid, elemental state, was nothing but Gaseous darkness (it's most common form) solidified and, more or less, had the same properties. But they found that darkness in it's liquid form, for some reason, had the potential to become a very unpredictable catalyst, producing strange and occasionally random effects on the subject exposed to it. Unfortunately liquid Sciatium isn't an abundant substance and is even rare in the Dark Realm and Ansem the Wise proposed that the only way it could have been initially created was during the beginning of the Universe where there was enough heat and free energy to keep it in a liquid state. The thought of liquified darkness was intriguing enough that Xehanort and Ansem eventually created a machine that could turn Solid Darkness into Liquid, but the machine was only able to do this over the course of 9 years and only in small doses, thus the liquid in the vial is the result of the first run of that machine.
"Did you just explain all that to me or did I just remember it?"
"Both, I suppose. You are high, after all." Xemnas answered. Xemnas uncorked the vial and pulled out an eye dropper. He sucked up just a minute sample of the dark liquid into the squirter and leaned it underneath the microscope. He placed three drops of the Sciatium into Xinck's blood. He returned the remainder of the liquid back into the vial, recorked it and set it on the table. He placed his eye over the eyepeice of the microscope. Just as he did, he saw the black and white liquid spew over the blood cells and settle just for a moment. Then the spiky, black White Blood Cells began to attack and destroy the large Red dots in Sciatium and eventually they were no more and the white part of the Sciatium eventually darkened.
"I was correct, Xigbar. His blood is connected to Darkness and as a result, we now have Pure Liquid Sciatium." Xemnas pulled from the microscope and he smiled, thinking of every new possibility that had revealed itself."
"What do you mean pure? I'm so high right now."
"I mean that this Sciatium." He motioned to the vial on the counter, "Was Impure and not as potent as Pure Sciatium, thus the appearance of those Red substances. But when I introduced it to Xinck's Negative D blood, the black White Blood Cells destroyed the impurities as if they were diseases in the body and making the element pure."
"Okay." Xigbar started, "I'm SO high right now. So you have a way to get pure liquid darkness by combining Sciatium with Xinck's blood. But you only have that one little vial, what are you gonna-"
"Wrong again, pothead." Xemnas snapped, "I have four more vials of Sciatium. Years ago when Ansem and I began the process to convert Solid Darkness to liquid, we used enough darkness, hard to obtain darkness, might I add, to fill five vials. Of course Ansem was banished to the Realm of Nothingness by the time the process was completed and it wasn't until we began the Replica Project did the idea of using Sciatium come to mind." Xemnas moved his hands into a pyramid of contemplation. "Now it only remains when to use it."
"I'm losing my high now." Was Xigbar's reply.
"Oh, god, Finally." Xemnas said.
"Come for me! Now!" Xaldin, Number III in the Organization howled over the wailing winds around him. Three lances in hand, three floating about him in the wind. Today it was his job to spar with Xinck.
Why Larxene requested for Xinck to spar with someone of such a high level compared to Xinck was something Xinck kept running through his head over and over again yet could not find an answer. Xinck, at his current level, was a more than adequate fighter with his swords and element, born with these skills at the moment of his Unbirth. His training with the Organization had upped those skills. But Xaldin, even as a human, had had years and years of fighter experience, weapons training and a perfect body and build as a result.
He was expected to go easy on the younger Nobody, but 'easy' with Xaldin is still Hard. So very, very hard and bloody. In a flurry of shadows in the air, Xinck made his sword pair appear.
"If you dare go easy on me, I'll hurt you even worse." Xaldin calmly stated.
"Yeah, whatever, you talk way too much." Xinck blurted out. Immediately after the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Violent winds ripped at his back as Xaldin filled the void in space behind him. Xinck cursed and jumped back, ignoring the pain. He ran at Xaldin, ignoring the winds coming from behind.
"Wind! Guard me!" Xaldin yelled, his hand raised. Whipping winds whirled around him in a sphere, Xinck was too close and the winds struck him in the front, sending him back, howling. "Idiot. First lesson!" Xaldin reared back, all six lances pointed at Xinck, he thrusts and impales the Nobody in six areas on his body: Three in his gut, two in his thighs and one in his chest. "First lesson is Defense is the Best Offense!" He raised his lances and Xinck all at once and flung him across Addled Impasse to the floor.
He landed on his side, in a heap, coughing and bleeding, swords still clutched in hands "...It's not so bad...it's not so bad...it's not so bad..."He kept chanting to himself. He jammed his let sword into the ground and pushed himself up. His foot slipped out from under him because of the blood and he feel to the floor again.
"Ha." Xaldin laughed, "Funny."
"Side-burned Freak!" Xinck spat.
"Sticks and stones, Xinck, sticks and stones."
"Then I'll beat you with sticks and stones!" He leaped from his bloody spot and fell from the sky to Xaldin, sword ready to cleave his head.
"Much too predictable." At Xaldin's leisure, he raised a hand to the sky around Xinck, "Whirl!" The winds obeyed and heavy gusts formed a small twister. The winds lifted Xinck into the air, pushed him, pulled him and threw him around all at Xaldin's command.
"Ha ha ha! Round 'n round and around he goes, where he stops not even Nobodies know!"
"Fuck you!" Xinck shrieked in a high voice over the winds that carried him.
"Ha ha! Down, then!" Xaldin threw his hand for the ground and the winds responded, pushing with all their might for the ground. Xinck was smashed into the metal of the floor, dislocating his shoulder and busting his arm bone. He wailed in place, thrashing about from the pain, the bone slowly putting itself back together.
Placing a hand over his mouth to cover his yawn, Xaldin expressed his boredom, "I grow tired of this. I'm getting hungry and I'm sure my baked potato is done cooking by now." The wind shield around Xaldin began to die down.
Xinck laughed a savage, evil laugh, "If you're so hungry.." darkness began smoking off his shoulder and arms and stood up and ran at Xaldin, rearing back and readying his fist for a punch, "Then eat this, fat head!" It was the best insult he could think of at the moment. Xaldin was only slightly caught off guard, able to recall his wind shield to block anything Xinck had. Xinck thrust his fist just before reaching the shield and above his head a great, black hole opened, generating an enormous black arm and fist that bludgeoned Xaldin head to waist. The lancer yelled, half from shock and half from pain as the fist retreated into the darkness. His lances twirled about in the air, unsure of what action to take. Xaldin's lip was bleeding. Xinck stood there, just as shocked as Xaldin, unclear at what he had just done.
It didn't take long for Xaldin to recover. "Huh. You made me bleed. Well done." He grabbed his lance and shot over to the confused Nobody, a deadly green aura consumed his body. "Wear the face of Despair!" Lances whipped around him, he slashed and cut and stabbed at Xinck, impaling and slicing at his body. All six lances connected and the Lancer spun them around his neck, dancing and picking Xinck up from the ground with each slash.
"Aaagh!" He screamed with every hit. He fell to the floor, down but not out. Xaldin leaped into the air, lances falling under his feet as he rode them like a surfer on air currents. As he flew around the room, his lances engorged and glowed. Xinck recovered and tossed his sword and chain for the last lance in the line and snagged it, pulling himself into the air.
"Bad idea!" Xaldin howled and his lances twitched and flung Xinck off, out of the air and against the wall.
Xaldin's giant lance contraption turned to Xinck and it's tip opened up in three directions, like a mouth that split into three jaws. Highly condensed air gathered at the very center. Xaldin, standing at the top of his lance, shouted, "Fire!" And the wind was released and bombarded Xinck and the walls around him. His screams were muffled by the sound of the wind that tore at his flesh, and his clothes.
Xaldin jumped from his machine, his lances returned to normal and the winds died down. Xinck's torn and scarred body fell limply to the floor. He was still conscious. He wanted to cry. All he could do was moan and cringe. It hurt too much to move. His vision was blurry because of the blood in his eyes. He sobbed, not knowing what to do, unable to speak.
Xaldin, hands behind his back walked past Xinck on his way out of the room. He stopped momentarily to say. "Oh, yes, by the way. I'm Xaldin, No.3. Very nice to meet you and I look forward to working with you." He walked away, paying no mind to his injured comrade.
"H-help..me..I..can't.."Was all he could muster to say. No one was around. No one would help him. He was alone. Again. He had to get by on his own, he knew that. Inch by inch, he moved his battered, bloody body underneath to pick himself up. He was hutched over and still spilling tons of blood from his wounds. Why he wasn't healing yet, he didn't know. He got up, holding onto his sides, trying to keep the blood in. every step he took was hell to him. Blood clouded his vision, he couldn't see and his arms sent out searing pain anytime he tried to move them to wipe at the blood.
He took a breath and leaned against one of the cold, metal walls. His eyes were closed. The blood stung too much to open them. He felt a presence. "Who's there?" he was frozen in place, too cautious, too worried to move. A soft hand rested on his shoulder. He felt no pain. "Larxene?"
"Shhh."She quieted him. Larxene looked him over, examining his words. "Look at you. I didn't think you'd win fighting Xaldin, but I didn't think he'd over do it." She sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I'm not healing. I don't know why."
"I noticed. Come on." She gently guided him off the wall.
"I can't see."
"I got you." She raised her hand to his eyes and wiped away the excess blood, the same way a mother would wipe away the tears of her child. Xinck opened his eyes and saw her face. There was no smile of joy, or scowl of anger, just her face and there was nothing to it. "Come on." She said. "Let's go get a towel." A Corridor of Darkness wrapped around them both and the next minute they were in one of the Castle's bathrooms. Larxene went to a cupboard and found freshly pressed towels. She took one and went to the sink where she ran hot water over it.
"Alright, hold still." She said. She took the towel out of the water and went to his shoulder and dabbed.
"Ah!" He winced, feeling the hot water on his in his wound.
"It's alright. It's okay." She said, she kept dabbing up the blood and when she was done, the wound began to sow itself up. She went back to the sink, ran hot water over the towel, dabbed up the blood around his wounds and repeated until all the blood on his limbs and torso were gone. Then she moved to his face, the cuts had healed, but she wiped off the blood anyway.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked.
Xinck
I was really injured today, worse than ever before. Larxene helped me to the bathroom and cleaned my wounds as they healed. I asked her why she was being so nice to me and she didn't answer. I never asked again. She was being nice to me. No one's ever been nice to me, not like that. I don't know how to take it. I followed her around for the rest of the day. We made fun of the other members I had met so far. She made fun of me, too, so I made a joke about her. She didn't take it well. I told her she looked like Pikachu with a vagina. She didn't laugh. She stabbed me in the neck, right in the jugular. I passed out on the floor in my own blood. She walked away, laughing to herself. Why does she do this? It's like she just takes pleasure in causing me pain. Fucking Sadist.
I woke up on a lab table. My neck was in a nice, tight bandage. Xemnas was there, washing his hands of my blood. He said he was making his rounds and he found me bleeding all over his new, favorite carpet in the Castle. He said that while I was out, he took another sample of my blood to check for Super-AIDS. It was an obvious lie, but I didn't bother arguing or calling him out. It's just blood.
He said I was free to go and that I should heal naturally in a few minutes. I don't know whats wrong with me, but I went to find Larxene. I was angry, but there really wasn't anything I could do. I hate her. I could fight her, but I'd lose. I'm not strong enough. I'm weak. I hate myself. I hate her, too.
I found her in the kitchen. She gave me an "Apology cake". What the hell is wrong with her? What's wrong with me for taking it? She said she was just caught up in the moment. I told her that wasn't an excuse to stab me. I'm so weak. She said she was sorry.
I hate myself. Why'd I believe her? She's just going to hurt me again. Why do I stay with her? I'm so weak. I hate myself.
Standing in a dark hall deep within the Castle That Never Was, Saix, the Organization's second in command, stood in silence. His right foot was casually placed up against the wall, his head was lowered and his arms at his sides. You could almost say he was sleeping, eyes closed and his breathing was lowered. Kingdom Heats, the great gathering of all the Hearts the Organization had collected so far, was small now, but grew larger every day. Saix had to hold back his power, absorbing moonlight was natural to him as breathing.
Then he heard knocking on the corner adjacent to him, followed by a voice, "The Crow caws at midnight."
"What the—what?" Saix came off the wall.
"The Crow caws at midnight."
"That makes no sense." Saix said.
Axel came around the corner, arms folded, "That was the phrase we agreed on to be our special code."
"I'm starting to regret that,"
"Yeah, well, you came up with it. So what'd you call me for?"
"It's about our new member."
"The creepy kid Xinck, what about him?"
"I want you to keep an eye on him."
"Oh, crap! I knew something like this was going to happen." Axel cursed, and scratched at the back of his head. "You know why? Because it always happens to me!"
"Calm yourself, Axel. This is a necessary thing." Saix took from the wall. And walked as he talked, as if even mentioning his Superior's name would reveal their plot, "Xemnas has taken an interest in Xinck's Umbrakinetic abilities. That is why he ordered a physical for Xinck, possibly to find his use in the Replica Project. If Xemnas is trying to use Xinck, then I want you to keep an eye on him and I'll find out what Xemnas is planning."
"And how do you suggest I go about doing this...craptacular task you have given me?" Axel added a smile to his sarcastic comment.
Saix sighed. He didn't like it when Axel used sarcasm, not on him anyway, "Use Roxas. I'll pull some strings and try to get Xinck's first real mission with Roxas, and through him, you can get to Xinck. "
Axel nervously scratched at his head again, "I don't know if I can use Roxas like that..."
"It is a must. Sora's Nobody is the Light. Xinck is the Darkness. Do not opposites attract?"
"Man, it's just elements. Don't you think we're all a but more than that?"
Saix turned to Axel, his face twisting into a smile, "Only one way to find out."
Next Day...
The Gray Area, in the morning, was filled with the members who were either taking their time getting prepared for their missions or just didn't feel like leaving yet. Saix stood at the far end of the room, ready to hand out daily missions, Xigbar and Demyx sat around the coffee table drinking coffee and having light conversation. Vexen was in the left corner, going over calculations and various figures in his head. A large man stood around the are where Xigbar and Demyx were, arms crossed with a shard, stone face. His hair was auburn, spiky and coarse. He looked as if he could easily bench everyone in the room and then some.
Xinck walked in, hood up, but everyone knew who it was before he came in. He saw Larxene sitting alone on a couch reading a book. He came up to her, ready to go, but as he got closer to her, she said. "Go over there to Saix." She played with her hair as she spoke, not looking up from her book, "You're not my fucking problem this morning." She pointed over to Saix.
Taken aback by this, Xinck stammered a reply. "Wha-but, yesterday, you-"
"You!" She snapped sternly, she pointed over to Saix, "Over there!"
Xinck stood there, shocked, disappointed, but not surprised. Apparently Nobodies were just like humans. He scoffed a reply. "Fine. Don't have to be so rude about it." He was starting to get irritated with her attitude. He said nothing more and made his way to Saix. On his way, he passed the large, auburn haired man who kept his arms folded and his face as hard and unfolding as stone. Xinck said nothing, glanced at him for a second, then continued for Saix.
"Good morning, Xinck." Saix greeted Xinck the same way that he greeted everyone every single morning.
"Ohayo, Saix." Xinck replied in Japanese. As soon as he did, he quickly grasped his mouth through his hood, shocked at his own words.
"What did you say?"
"I have no idea." Xinck replied truthfully, "I...uh..fell asleep with my TV playing a Japanese cartoon. Must have just stick with me, you know?"
Saix ignored it and held up his clipboard and scanned the papers for Xinck's name."Oh, yes, and speaking of your television, I am warning you about going to outside worlds and stealing items." Saix found Xinck's name on the next page, "We don't mind you going off and taking small items, but if it's an object of any significant interest then it is to be reported and checked with Inventory. Understand?"
Xinck was fiddling with with the mysteries of the loose thread on his coat sleeve, barely paying Saix any mind, "Uh-huh, yes, of course."
"Anyway, Larxene has requested that you learn at least some basic magic today. To assist you with this, Zexion will be accompanying you to Twilight Town."
"Zexy-who?" Xinck asked, head limp to the side.
"That would be me." A voice from behind. A young man, a bit shorter than Xinck stood before them. He had blue eyes and long dark and silver hair pushed forward partially covering the top of his face on the right. He introduced himself, "Good Morning. I am Zexion, No.6." He was polite, but his face revealed little emotion. He couldn't have been older than 20, maybe 21.
"Good Morning." Xinck nodded.
"I trust that you have prepared yourself for our assignment today, yes?"
"Uh..." Fourteen's eyes darted around in his skull, then at Saix.
"Just go." Saix ordered, opening a portal beside him.
"Oh." Zexion said, "Before we go, would you mind wearing this?" No.6 held in his hand a small, dull metallic green ring with a carved image of two serpents locking tails and a pentagram in the center. A tiny lock was imposed on the pentagram.
"Oh, oh, well, Zexion, I'm very flattered," Xinck stammered, " but I'm not looking to be tied down with marriage. Ever."
Zexion snorted, almost laughing, but with disdain, "This is no wedding band. You're presence is deadly to humans and right now our assignment requires going undetected. This ring can suppress your presence until your power has matured enough to control it." He handed the ring out to Xinck. He was right, while in the Castle it was alright to let your presence out every now and again, but Xinck had it out constantly, unable to keep it down at will.
"Okay, okay." Xinck took the ring, placing it on his finger, the pentagram glowed green and the serpents hissed slightly. Immediately, Xinck felt the vibration in his chest cease slightly, ringing around inside him. "Oooh, tingly."
In the Sandlot in the middle of Twilight Town, a quiet little burg between night and day, the Nos. 6 & 14 stood alone.
"We shouldn't stay here long." Zexion stated, "This is around the time that the citizen's of this world are usually asleep and I don't want to risk waking them up." Zexion scanned the rooftops around him to make sure no one was around. Not a soul in sight. He turned around to his companion. "Now, tell me, do you know any—Xinck?" He wasn't there. Zexion did a 360, looking around for his companion. "Where did he...?"
Over on the other side of the Sandlot, against the wall was Xinck, crouched down, his back to his superior. "What are you doing? Xinck?" Zexion got no reply. He walked over to the crouching young man and peeked over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"
No. XIV gave a simple reply, " Squishin' ants." Below him was a small ant pile and ant after ant was crawling out of the mouth in search of food. And one by one as they came out, Xinck squished them unmercifully with his pointer and middle finger.
"Wha-What the-?" Zexion, in a shock, had never seen such a thing. Just "squishin' ants" for no real reason? Even in his youth he never resorted to such obvious antisocial behavior. It made no sense to him, really. As a child he always kept an air of civility about him and in this one act of his charge "squishin' ants", he momentarily lost it all. "Get your ass up and stop playing with ants!" He yelled, catching himself too late.
"Shhh." Xinck replied, not turning around, "Zexion, do stifle yourself. We are in a residential area."
"Unacceptable..." Zexion thought, fists clenched, "Unforgivable!" With a flick of his wrist, Zexion produced his signature book, The Book of Retribution, his lexicon in his hands. He flipped open it's pages, found a spell and spoke it aloud, "Ra'tiel!" His voice echoed.
Glowing orange erupted beneath Xinck and a great fiery pillar of lava burst from below, not scratching the ground itself, but hurling the young, yelling Nobody into the air.
He grunted, not really harmed as he landed on the ground on his amazed than harmed, really. His backside was smoking and yet he looked at Zexion with awe and surprise. Jaw-dropping surprise. "You...how did you."
"Magic, Xinck." Zexion began, closing his book, "Is more than a simple slight-of-hand by your average street magician. In the field, it can mean the difference between life and fading away."
Zexion as the teacher and Xinck as the student. No.6 demonstrated several spells for his subordinate:Fire Spells, Blizzard spells, etc. Xinck hung on every word, deeply interested in the concept of magic. And then, it was time to try it out himself.
"Now, we're going to start off with the most basic of spells: Fire." Zexion stated, his subordinate standing next to him. "It's simple. All you need is a physical increase of heat and the spell will amplify and project it. Like so." Zexion raised his right hand, pointed outward and snapped his fingers, generating a small, but adequate increase in heat. As a result, a medium-sized burst of orange fire shot forth from his hand, soared through the air for 10 feet, then fell to the ground and died. "See? Simple. The Fire spell is Basic magic, but it can go up to levels two and three, Fira and Firaga. There are also several variations of Fire Spells that are beyond the Basic Level. Because I've studied magic for years, I can cast spells up to level 199 out of 500."
Xinck nodded, "Can I try?"
"Yes, off course. Remember, Fire spells require thinking about hot thoughts and a physical increase in heat. So don't forget to snap."
"Right." Xinck held out a hand and readied his fingers to snap. "Hot thoughts. Hot Thoughts. Red Hots, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Tamales, burnt Pizza. Fire!" A snap of his fingers and nothing happened at first. Then, No.14 was consumed in flames. Yelling, screaming and flailing his hands about, he ran around the sandlot as Zexion chased after.
"Stop, Drop and Roll, Fool! Stop, Drop and Roll!"
After Zexion stomped out Xinck's flames and his skin healed up nicely, Zexion continued the lesson. "Okay. For your first time using magic you didn't do a bad job. I remember when I first trained Demyx in magic he didn't even know how to snap his fingers. Couldn't get a flame going, being a water elemental and all."
"He's a musician. How does he not know how to snap?"
"I've kept myself up many a night trying to find out the "Why" of Demyx and it is truly a futile gesture. Now let's continue..." The lesson continued and much sooner than thought, Xinck become able to fire up to four Fire spells, three Firas and two Firagas. He showed much skill in sorcery.
"That man with the red hair, Axel, I think. He can use fire, can't he?" Xinck asked after firing another blast.
"Yes." Zexion answered. "All members of the Organization have the ability to naturally manipulate an element. Yours is darkness, correct?" Xinck nodded, "Try firing a continues dark force, please."
Xinck started to ask why, then figured that there truly was no harm in it. He raised a hand to the air and opened his palm to the sky. Xinck realized that using his innate abilities was simple and that all he needed to do was visualize what he wanted to happen and let his darkness flow from his chest and out from his body, in this case his hand. A dark flame appeared in his palm, he twitched his fingers and a highly-dense black turret shot from his hand and pierced the twilit sky above.
"Keep going." Zexion ordered. And He did, the blast did not waver for 3 full minutes.
"That's enough, very good." Zexion said and Xinck ended the blast, letting his hand fall limp to his side. "How do you feel?"
"Fine, I suppose." He added a shrug."
"Now, fire two Firagas." Zexion ordered. Xinck complied: he snapped his fingers and thought EXTREMEMLY hot thoughts and one huge fire ball shot from his hand and exploded on the ground far from him. He felt weak slightly, his breathing becoming louder. He fired another and when it exploded, he bent over and nearly went to the ground in a heap.
"Cura."Zexion spoke his spell and summoned a yellow and green bellflower over Xinck's head and healed his fatigue. "Notice how when you used your own element you went on for almost three minutes, but when you used fire magic you nearly blacked out. This is because manipulating your own element takes very little energy away from you. Of course for magic and powers that aren't yours, tons of energy is consumed, so you must be careful, be prepared and know your limits." Zexion closed his book, sighed and flipped his hair. "The lesson is complete for the day, Xinck. If you wish to pursue higher knowledge in anything we've discussed then I'm afraid you'll have to do so on your own time. Shall we RTC?" A Corridor opened itself next to Zexion.
Fourteen picked himself up and brushed off the dirt on the front of his coat. "Wait a minute!" He called, "I have a question."
Zexion sighed, shaking his head, "Yes, Xinck. My hair always looks like this."
"No, not that."
"No, you cannot keep the ring."
"Not that! I wanted to know what your element was."
No.6 stopped in his tracks and thought of the question for only a second. He answered, " 'If time is not real, then the dividing line between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an Illusion.'-Herman Hesse"
"Speaking in rhymes and riddles. How scholarly of you. Could I have a straight answer?"
"Illusion, Xinck. My elemental power is Illusion."
"That's not really an element." Xinck said. "How could that possibly work anyway?"
" 'How could it work?'" Zexion repeated to himself. He stepped into the Corridor and turned back to Xinck. "Answer me this, Xinck. Are you sure you were really on fire?"
"What? No! You didn't!"
" 'Is not this whole world an Illusion? And yet it fools everybody.'" With those words, Zexion left into the Darkness.
Zexion
I've been in this Organization since it's inception. I've witnessed member after member come and go. The Fourteenth members in particular are the ones who seem to go the most. Xinck is, without a doubt, one of the strongest so far. He seems to have a natural take for the supernatural, seeing as he so easily grasped the concept of magic. His natural dark powers are coming along so well, he'll make an excellent addition to our group. His scent didn't tell me much, other than that he smells minty and that he ate a Hot Pocket for breakfast.
Although, I will say this. Something about him is a bit troubling. Its as if he's hiding something. Or, if not hiding, something is very desperate to get out. Being around Xinck makes me wonder how things would be different if we had kept some of the other 14th members instead of Xinck.
Lexaeus is the Organization's No. V. He wore spiky, auburn hair and his face was in a permanent scowl. His elemental power over the earth, huge build and innate super strength made him the undisputed strongest member in the Organization, in terms of physical strength anyway. He was a natural born warrior and as stalwart as the earth he moved.
But today he was handed the role of teacher.
A Corridor of Darkness opened up in the Sandlot and Lexaeus lead the way, Xinck at his heels.
"So..." Xinck was looking for the best topic to talk about. "...like any music?"
Lexaeus said nothing, keeping his stone face focused on the are around them.
"No? Not a music person, eh? Let's see...how about...food? Like any good food?"
More silence from Number 5.
"How about sliced bread? Are you a fan of the phenomenon that is sliced bread?"
Apparently, Lexaeus could take no more. "Do you know what a Redux is?"
"Uh...no. I'm guessing from the X it's a member that I haven't met yet."
"The Redux is your most powerful arsenal. It incorporates your elemental power, your will and your very essence." Lexaeus led Xinck over to the benches at the edge of the Sandlot. They both sat and Lexaeus continued. "When you look inside yourself, look deep into the void inside yourself, you'll find the means to approach this power naturally."
"Does everybody have a Redux?" Xinck asked.
"Only Nobodies. As Nobodies, we are, in a way, superhuman, but less than human at the same time. Our will is what makes us have a Redux. We push our Redux from within ourselves by our will. It is a powerful force derived from our very essence and personality."
"Like our weapons?"
"Yes, but it is so much more."
"How do I get one?"
"You must look inside yourself when you are ready, mature and much stronger to contain it's power. Think of it like this, two people playing a game of tug-o-war. You are on one side, your Redux on the other. You and your Redux must stay in perfect balance in terms of energy consumption. If your Redux takes too much of your energy, it'll turn on you and end you."
"Fall in the mud." Xinck said.
"Excuse me?"
"You used tug-o-war as an analogy. So I assumed that falling in the mud after being pulled so much would mean you die."
"Ah...yes..of course."
"Alright, so are you here to help me start learning how to get my Redux?"
"No."
The first thing that came to mind for Xinck to reply with was, 'So what use are you?' But thought better of it considering Lexaeus's raw power. Lexaeus continued with:
"But I am only here as an introduction to the subject." Lexaeus stood to his full height, easily dwarfing Xinck. No.V reached into his pockets and produced a blue pamphlet entitled.
"Rules of Redux
Your Redux and You.
By:
Zexion, The Cloaked Schemer, Esq."
"Zexion wrote a pamphlet explaining every detail, custom and rule concerning Redux." He handed the small, 15-page pamphlet to Xinck, who flipped through it's pages then casually stuffed it into his pocket.
Xinck
It's been awhile since I've had some time to write, but oh, do I have some things to tell you. First, I finally met every member. As it turns out, Xigbar is No. II and Saix is No. VII. Why is Saix Number 7 and Second-in-Commad? I bet that pissed off Xigbar.
I'm finished with my training with Marluxia and I went on my first mission with the Number XIII, who, it turns out I have already met. It's Roxas. The little guy with freaky blonde hair. We went to some world where we had to steal a sword in a stone and bring it back to the Organization's vault. It wasn't hard, actually. I've had harder training missions to be honest. But what is really exciting is what happened later. I am finally a fully-fledged member of Organization XIII (they decided not to change the name due to already having business cards printed). I have a title and I get to make my own subordinate-class Nobodies. I have to actually get a few Dusks and do stuff, but I'll get to it later. My title is:
"The Fallen Deviant"
I don't really care for the "Fallen" part, but I like the "Deviant". It sounds...sexy. Yeah, sexy. I'm sexy.
IN OTHER AMAZING XINCK NEWS! Zexion was right when he said that I'd have to learn more magic on my own. I found the Library and took out 12 books on the subject of the various magics in the worlds. I was always a fast reader, plus as a Nobody I learn faster so I finished reading all of those books in a day...plus, I did a lot of skimming. A LOT of skimming.
Anyway, one thing I learned was that there exists natural magical fields around every world, almost the same as the magnetic field around the earth and that different spells, incantations, rituals and objects can manipulate these fields to various effects. And different cultures EVRERYWHERE have different ways to use these fields. There's Chinese magic, Celtic magic, African magic, Indian magic (red dot and feather) and I even started the basics in Alchemy (which isn't magic by the way, but if you saw it you wouldn't be able to tell the difference). I think I can say that my magic level is way above Basic now, except I still need to apply it.
IN OTHER AMAZING XINCK NEWS! I glanced at that Rules of Redux pamphlet Lexaeus gave me. I glanced at it then lost it. I'm sure it'll turn up eventually.
Mmmmmm...I guess while I'm writing I should list some of the other things I can do.
Omni-linguistic-I found out I had this power when I was watching Telemundo and there was nothing else on. For thirty minutes I watched soap operas, having no idea what was going on. Then, after thirty minutes, I started understanding every word they said, like my ears were tuning into a different radio station. So now I am well versed in Spanish. Then I "acquired" some Rosetta Stone language kits and, well, let's just say I know my way around 9 other languages.
Powerful Mouth-I can eat anything! HAHAHAHA!
Super-hearing-I can hear...most things! HAHAHAHA!
Necrokinesis-Okay,now I think this might have just been a fluke, but I think I can bring back dead people...well, at least hamsters at the moment. I killed Demyx's hamster on accident, but I was able to bring it back. It's hard to explain now, but if I get better at it I'll have to write it down in here.
Oh! and I also can...no..wait, that wasn't me, that's Marluxia. Oh, but I can-no...that's Larxene. Huh..well, I thought I would've had a longer list. Oh well!
In the perpetual night of The World That Never Was, a shining body descended from the clouds in a burst of Holy Light, dispersing the clouds out in all directions. The body fell, it's foot pointed towards the roof of a building, it's silver shining wings folded outwards as it fell.
The 13th member of the Organization, Roxas, in the form of his Redux hit the roof and folded his giant wings behind him. His breathing was heavy. He had to get used to flapping his wings. His black-gloved hands straightened his dark gold tie and wiped at whatever dirt might have collected on his night-black suit.
Clapping was heard behind him. "Alright, Roxas, doing good." His friend and former mentor, Axel, No.8, congratulated him, walking towards him, "Let's see, you got the wings, the suit and now all you need is a name."
"A name? Why?"
"Every Redux should have a name. Makes it more powerful. Almost everyone names it in a different language. It's kinda the norm, you know?"
"Oh..well, how'd you name yours?"
Axel smirked, then laughed, thinking about how 'original' he was. "Dude, I named mine in English. Do you know what everyone else in the Organization did? They just went to Google Translate and put some weird phrase into the translator. True story." Roxas started laughing mildly, even though he had no idea what the words 'Translate' or 'Google' meant.
"So, what should we name mine?" He asked.
Axel placed a hand to his chin and looked Roxas over. "Well, the wings are a dead give away, so it has to have Angel in the name. And we want to be original and I don't think anyone else named their Redux in Latin, which I got a B- in High School."
"What's Latin?"
"A dead language." Axel scratched at his head, running through every Latin phrase he could think of for his friend. "Let's see...Luce means Light and Angel is Angelus. Mmmm...How about 'Lucifer'?"
" 'Lucifer'? What's that?"
"The Devil..."
"I don't want to be the Devil!" Roxas shouted, shocked.
"Let me finish. It's an old name for The Devil, like..uh..Abaddon or Old Nick (A/N:Hintity Hint Hint). But it actually means "Bringer of Light."
"Oh..like my element, right?"
"Exactly!" Axel exclaimed. "Now..we need something tough in the name somewhere, you know to counterbalance the Angel part."
Roxas thought for a second, "How about 'Destruction'?"
"Now you're thinkin' big!"
As Axel and Roxas pondered over the naming of a new Redux, Larxene, eying them from afar, teleported back to the Castle.
Larxene
Having a heart is much too painful and annoying AS HELL. If you ask me, being a Nobody is a lot easier. I can be the best me I can be just the way I am now. I guess that's why I see so much potential in Xinck. And that is a VERY good thing. I mean, when compared to Marluxia, I'm the weaker of the two and our plan to take over the Organization when we get to Castle Oblivion is going to work, we'll take over the Organization and Marluxia will be in charge. Marluxia is powerful. Xemnas is powerful. Therefore, I need more power, duh. That's where Xinck comes in. I'm sure everyone thinks that Xinck's darkness will just implode in on himself, but oh, no. He's much to strong for that. His powers wouldn't allow that. I'll keep Xinck close to me, I'll make sure he reaches his potential and in return I'll reach my potential. So when the day comes where Marluxia is head of the Organization, I'll have a way to become head of the Organization.
I'll get Xinck to his full potential the same way Mother got me to mine...
Sigh. My mother...the hateful bitch. Constant ridicule. The never-ending tension. The eternal extra-curricular activities, Gymnastics, Piano, Martial Arts training, Acrobatics, Knife-Throwing competitions and dozens of other things I can't even remember the names for! AND LOOK WHERE IT GOT ME NOW! THANKS A LOT, MOM! NOW I GET TO USE ALL MY SKILLS TO ACT OUT EVERY VIOLENT TENDENCY I HAD FOR YOU ON OTHERS!
And I know just the next step, the right move in making him reach his potential. Axel thinks his protege is such hot shit because he has the Keyblade and a Redux. Well, we'll see how bright that Light shines when I give the Darkness the power of Redux. I'll give it to Xinck, whether he likes it or not and even if it kills him. Or me.
Sigh. My mother...that hateful bitch...
Xinck
Larxene is pissing me off. I can't take her crap anymore. We got into a fist fight today in the kitchen. I WOULD HAVE WON! But she kneed me and I fell to the floor where she proceeded to beat me in front of the others. She's always doing that! We could be sitting around just talking or making fun of one of the other members, then we start to fight and she starts hitting me! I'm sick of it! It's like I'm just a toy to her, she's always "playing" with me. She'll be nice to be around one minute, then bitchy the next! I don't need this. I think I'd rather be alone than with someone like that...
Saix was in his room, at his computer inputting data when it happened.
Lexaeus and Zexion were conversing with Vexen in his lab when it happened.
Marluxia was in his room doing his two-hour beauty regimen when it happened.
Xigbar had just gotten the best hand of the game with Xaldin and Luxord when it happened.
Demyx had just found the squashed body of his hamster when it happened.
Xemnas was in his office and eating when it happened.
Axel and Roxas were still outside in the Dark City. They had finally decided on a name for Roxas' Redux when it happened.
"I don't know..." Roxas argued, "I'm still not sure about the 'Lucifer' part."
"Believe me it'll all tie together." Axel said, " I mean, think about it Archangelus Exitium Et Creatio looselymeans 'Archangel of Destruction and Creation'. You don't care at all about the Destruction part?
Roxas shrugged and smirked. He used a new word he had learned from Axel a few days ago. "It's sounds...uh..cool?"
He's always good for a nice laugh, Axel thought "Yeah. It does."
The Castle That Never Was stood high in the distance. It grew dark. The shining light from the small, heart shaped moon that bathed the white castle in it's glow grew dark. Living shadows, moving blackness radiated from the Castle and tormented screams filled the air.
AAGGHHHHHHH!
"What the hell?" Axel turned to see the darkened Castle in the distance. "What happened?"
"You think someone's hurt?" Roxas asked. He had dismissed his Redux and was once again wearing his black coat.
"I don't know. But we're about to find out. Let's go." Axel snapped his fingers and a dark Corridor opened it's mouth and the two Nobodies ran inside.
AAGGGHHHHHH!
In Addled Impasse, dangerous tremors were born and shook the very foundation of the Castle.
"Come on, Xinck!" Larxene yelled orders, not encouragement, "You can do it! Don't let this kill you! If you die, I am so kicking your ass!"
Xinck was arching his back, howling at the sky, screaming at the ceiling. The pain was truly unbearable, as if that empty void inside was tearing at him, eating him and swallowing him from the inside out. His face had become contorted and demonic, his eyes like black glass and his mouth as wide as it could get. His shadow was tearing at the air around him, thick wisps of darkness shot violently and exploded from his body. His black eyes turned to Larxene, but the screaming continued. It wasn't just him who was screaming.
"WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?" He cried. He got no answer, it was getting worse. The pain was ripping him apart. "WHY-AAGGHHH!"
"Come on! Hold it in! Make it submit! Hold it down!" She yelled at him. A black explosion erupted from Xinck's body, impacting Larxene and pushed her back against the wall.
"What the hell is going on?" Larxene turned to see Marluxia standing next to her. He had his hands up, covering his face to protect against the harsh energy given off by Xinck.
"I'm giving him his Redux!" Larxene shouted her reply.
Marluxia gasped at what she had done. "You idiot! You didn't! You can't force his Redux! He could kill himself! And even worse, me! And to a lesser extent, the rest of you!"
"No! He won't!" Larxene turned to Marluxia, smiling, "He can do it! Just give him some time!"
"Larxene!" Another voice. Xigbar's. The Freeshooter came up to both of them, his hair writhing in the wind, "What the hell did you do? Did you finally piss him off!"
"No!" Marluxia answered, "She forced his Redux!"
"What? Are you trying to kill me? And to a lesser extent, the rest of you?" Xigbar yelled back at Larxene. Xigbar regained himself in the chaos long enough to summon one of his guns and aim it at Xinck's head, "We can't risk it! We'll just have to put him down like a Dog!"
"No you don't!" Larxene roundhouse kicked Xigbar's hand, the gun flew over across the floor and out of range.
"Ow! My trigger finger!" Xigbar grabbed and cradled his hand in his lap, "You hit my motherfucking finger!"
"No one's gonna hurt him!" She yelled. She stared daggers at Xigbar and Marluxia and to the other members that were starting to appear around them. Everyone was there, minus Xemnas, talking amongst themselves, but Axel, Roxas and Saix were the only ones to come up.
"Larxene, explain yourself." Saix demanded, his hair whipping about his head.
"She's forcing his Redux!" Xigbar answered over Xinck's wailing, "And she hurt my hand!"
"She's What?" Saix's eyes stared menacingly at the woman, but she did not waver or squirm away. "Why?"
"Because if he's going to be in our group he needs to learn Redux!"
"You cannot force it on him! He'll die and take us all with him!"
"I can't move my fingers, dammit!" Xigbar shouted.
"No he won't! Just wait and watch!"
"LARXENE!" Xinck shouted, a myriad of voices behind his own. "AAAGGHH!" Like he was punched in his front by a giant, he was flung halfway across the room, his back smashing against the entirely glass window.
"Axel." Roxas tapped his friend on his shoulder. "What's he mean "Force his Redux"? Is that what we did?"
"No, no." He answered, shaking his head much more than he needed to. "You see, you're supposed to learn your Redux by yourself and learn how to use it all on your own. This can take some time depending on who you are."
"But, I learned mine in only a few days."
"Well, I guess that means you're smart. But Xinck over there..."Axel glanced over the suffering Nobody pinned against the glass wall, "Xinck is just unlucky. Your Redux is all about you, it's just you, and having someone else come in and interfere with that process is dangerous. Forcing your Redux is like throwing a 4 year old into a cage with a bear cub. It's dangerous and if He doesn't take control, then he'll explode in a fury of his own element and probably kill all of us."
"Explode?"Roxas didn't want to think of that. He looked on to see Xinck, screaming, his face changing between sad and scared and pain. He turned to look at the other members that watched on, doing nothing.
"HELP ME!"
No one moved.
"We have to help him." Roxas said, he started to walk for him, but Axel held him back.
"No! You can't! No one can help him! You'll just make it worse."
"But..but look at him!"
"You can't do anything! He has to learn to stand on his own two legs."
"Stand on his own two legs..."
Through all the chaos and pain, Axel's words were the only things he heard.
On the outside, chaos erupted from every pore on Xinck's body, dark energy ripped and repaired his body all at once. But on the inside, it was worse. Inside himself, he was falling into a never-ending white abyss, all the while living shadows fly in and out of his body, pushing him this way and that. He didn't scream, there was no point. His body turned down to the very bottom of the abyss inside him and looking straight up at him was a monster, a demon. Three pairs of eyes and an open maw with an innumerable amount of clean white teeth. Only it's mouth and eyes were visible, it's enormous hand was cradling what appeared to be it's head and it's multiple eyes showed boredom, not hunger.
Every shadow smashing into his body was another form of himself and who he was. Who he was now and who he use to be.
The first shadow bombarded his stomach, he gasped as it settled inside and shouted. It was his Anger.
I will Kill ALL OF YOU! We go in, we kill! We Go and Kill! No more talk! We Kill! Soon, my Dog of War, but we have to do it my way! Losers! Losers!
"What the hell is his problem?" Xinck asked, but already knew the answer. Anger left out of his back. Sadness and Despair were soon to replace.
I just don't know why the color yellow makes me sad. It's just...just so...No one likes me. They think I'm weird, but I can only be me!
Madness stopped by for a visit.
Excuse me? Yes, well, I have always believed that whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stranger. Ha ha...ha ha...ha ha ha! HAHAHAHA! I have sex with dogs, man!
His Hatred.
Let's see here, I hate you, and I hate you. Oh and I definitely hate you. I don't even know you and I hate your guts. I hope rats eat your kids. I hope all the bad things in life happen to you and no one else but you!
His fascination with Death wasn't far behind.
You know as well as I do that everything dies. You, me, those asshole roommates of yours and even this Universe. Yes and even God. God will die, too. I'll make sure of that. We will reap it all.
So many of these aspects of himself invaded his body for a chance to be heard, dozens of them, even some that he didn't even know he had. Why have anger or hate or sadness when he couldn't feel them anymore? Maybe it was from his memories, his old memories of when he was miserable as a human. But they didn't matter anymore, how could they? He couldn't feel anything anymore.
The monster at the end of the tunnel now looked only at Xinck. From it's multiple eyes, one more shadow came into Xinck. It's voice was that of the monster, the demon that stared at him with interest. It's voice was not harsh, nor cruel or evil in anyway. It was clear and resounding with three voices mixing together into one.
It was his Darkness.
Feel no Fear. This Divine Darkness is yours. It always has been and shall be for all time. Be greater, our Prodigy, simply be greater.
The monster moved it's giant maw to Xinck and swallowed him whole. In that Darkness, Xinck took control. He opened his own mouth and on his command, the whole of the beast imploded on itself and was pulled into Xinck's mouth. Everything went dark.
"See? Look! I told you!" Larxene yelled over the the noise that was becoming fainter and fainter. "I told all of you bitches! Yeah!" She ran over to No. XIV.
The tremors subsided. The shadows receded into Xinck's body. His face returned to normal and his eyes returned to black and white. He stopped screaming and he fell to his knees, eyes closed, his breathing was heavy.
"Xinck! Xinck! Hey!" Larxene, bending down and slapping him across the face, she hit him much harder than was necessary. She was smiling, giddy with excitement. She truly thought herself the greatest teacher. "Wake up! Come on! I knew you could do it!"
One eye opened, then closed and twitched. Larxene's smile penetrated into his mind and he saw her, looking at him like he was her plaything. "She hurt me again. I knew she would. Why? Why do I bother with her? She's terrible. She's worse than me. She's evil.
Kill her!
No, I can't.
Yes you can!
No...I..
Shut up! All your life you've waited for something like this! Something worth living for, worth waking for! This what you wanted, your dream! Don't let her ruin it! Open your eyes and fight, goddammit!
His eyes opened, darkness in them. Larxene smiled and stood up, holding out a hand to help him up. He growled silently, his black-burning hand raised for Larxene's and she readied to grab it.
The first words to come out of his mouth, he shouted, "Ebenholz!" A great, thick blast of black fired from his palm, bashing into Larxene and blasting her across the room. She collided with the opposite wall and fell to the ground.
"Dude!" Xigbar explained.
"I do say!" Luxord yelled in shock.
"Uh-oh. He's gonna get it now." Demyx said.
Xinck leapt to his face, wisps of solid black darkness evaporating off his body and flowing from his eyes, "You bitch! You fucking die!"
Larxene had fallen to her knee, she shot her head up and stared daggers at her now former protege, "What the fuck is your problem?"
"You! You're my problem! You hurt me! I'm not your fucking toy!"
"I give you your Redux and help you control your presence all at once and this is how you pay me back!"
"I'll pay you back with your death! That's the greatest gift I could give you!"
Saix, on the sidelines, elbowed Axel and whispered in a hush tone. "Now might be a good time to interfere."
"Really? I don't know, this seems like a personal matter."
"Just do it."
"Oh god." Axel sighed and flung his arms out in frustration, "You know, you're awfully bossy today, you know that?" He walked off from the rest of the group, much to Roxas' dismay and went to Xinck. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Xinck flinched but kept his eyes on Larxene.
"Okay, alright. It's been a long day and tensions are high. Everyone's a bit stressed out and-"
Xinck hissed in a raspy voice, "Get the hell out of my way, Ginger." With a small push he placed a hand on Axel's side and slid him three feet to the left with ease.
"Damn, dude, you're strong." Axel said in amazement.
Larxene stood up and brushed her coat free of dirt. In a way, this was expected. Tensions always rise on the road to greatness. She had given her mother her share of outburst, so she saw this coming. She spoke calmly, "You're just pissy today because it hurt. You're like a baby who just got it's first immunization shot."
Xinck replied, "Well let me give you a shot. I know just where to put it—RIGHT IN YOUR FUCKING EYE!"
A dark figure, large and tall, made it's way before Xinck. Lexaeus stood before him, arms folded and eyes staring down at the Deviant. "You are making a scene. I ask that you two forget your petty squabblings and go to your rooms."
"Move, dammit!" Xinck yelled, but Lexaeus stayed. Xinck huffed and tried to go around, but Lexaeus stepped and blocked his way. Xinck bellowed, "MOVE YOUR FREAKIN' BODY, YOU WALL!"
"Stifle yourself! You forget yourself, Xinck." Lexaeus remained calm, his gaze unmoving from Xinck. "Remember your pla-"
"Got to hell!"
"Remember your place, No. XIV. We do not-"
"Kiss my dickhead! You remind me of Rocky Dennis from Mask!"
"Ok. That's it." Laxaeus's face noticeably twitched at Xinck's defiance. He raised a stern hand, flattened it and aimed for Xinck's neck.
"I hope you get Bird Flu and d-Ugh!" The strike was lightening-quick. Xinck's eyes rolled into his head and his shadows receded back into his body. He fell limp and Lexaeus caught him and flung him over his shoulder.
Larxene laughed at Xinck's unconscious face, his eyes crossed and his giant tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Very good, Lexaeus. Be a dear and drop him in his room; I'll have a talk with him later. Oh and yes, I'll have my cup of tea on the veranda later. One lemon wedge, please. Chop chop." She grinned at the warrior.
The Silent Hero snorted as he walked past Larxene, "I'm doing this because it needs to be done, not because you want it done. Get your own damn tea."
"Well, someone's pissy today."
Lexaeus ignored her comment. He walked past the others and past Saix and Axel on his way to a Corridor, "You should have been the one to stop this. Not me." With that, he got to the Corridor and left with Xinck's body.
Saix scoffed to Axel, "I think he's talking to you."
"He's talking to you, jackhole!" Axel shot back. The sound of another Corridor turned their attention to the darkness swirling in front of them. Xemnas stepped out, his usual expression of boredom on his face.
"What did I miss?" He asked.
"Our group is growing, our goals can reach fruition much quicker. Useless fighting and arguing is nothing more than wasted time and energy. " That was Lexaeus's reason, anyway. His Corridor opened in Xinck's foyer-sized room and placed him gently down on the floor.
Lexaeus eyed him as he lay there unconscious. "So much anger inside this supposedly emotionless creature." Xinck turned himself over and curled up, now sleeping. "That raw power couldn't have possibly come from just his darkness." His breathing was normal, he twitched a little as he slept. "What awful life did he have to generate such strong emotions and call such a darkness?"
Lexaeus thought back to his years as a guard and apprentice to Ansem the Wise. They all learned so much about the Heart and it's limit to Darkness. Darkness can and always will corrupt, that was a strong fact that was the result of every experiment they did. But what about Xinck, this Nobody? Nobodies are nothing, they have no light, no darkness. Xinck is of Nothing and there is no light in him, but there is Darkness. More darkness than there should be in anyone. It makes no sense. He's a freak, an anomaly, a deviant. A fitting name, indeed, Lexaeus thought.
Darkness corrupts the heart. But he has no heart, so something must takes it's place. Is it possible that his soul could become corrupted? Is corrupted? Maybe, maybe not. His darkness could be different the same way he's different. Perhaps the word 'Deviant' doesn't always carry a negative connotation.
Lexaeus opened a Corridor with a whip of his hand and stepped halfway through. Either way, he thought, yours will not be an easy one. "Rest now." He said, "For your struggles are just beginning."
In his sleep state, the deviant mumbled, "All these people bother me...let's go on a killing spree."
"Such a creepy child." With that thought in mind, No. 5 left.
Xinck
He didn't know how long he had been out, but he didn't bother complaining. Hitting Larxene with that blast was good enough. For now, anyway. The point is, he thought, she's knows I'm not taking her shit anymore and that's what matters. I don't need her. I'd much rather take Loneliness over Larxene.
He laid on his bed, angrily writing down the events of his day. All at once, Xinck had gotten his Redux, which he could literally feel surging around in his body, and gotten control of his presence. That meant he could now go on more covert missions and not worry about giving himself away. He sighed heavily and finished writing "'Larxene! Fuck you! You go to Hell! You go to Hell and you die!'" He rolled over onto his back, sighed and began drawing skulls all over his journal.
Then, a thought occurred. He hadn't made his Subordinate Nobodies yet. That was something to do to kill time. When he had completed his first real mission, he had received his title and the means to create his own underclass Nobody. The process would only take a few minutes and after it was done, the new Nobody, that is created from a Dusk, will find other Dusks and 'infect' them and turn them into the new Nobody.
First he needed a Dusk. "Any random Dusk want to be my direct subordinate?" He asked. He wasn't really expecting a reply, but a small, white vortex opened and a common Dusk appeared, swaying back and forth as it stood.
"My Lord and Liege."It greeted Xinck.
Second, he needed to unzip it's face/hood...
5 minutes later.
Now all he had to do was name the new breed of Nobody that stood before him. It was shorter than a Dusk and it's "clothes" were a bit baggy and decorated with multiple Organization symbols. Black and gray were it's color schemes and it's sleeves hid it's tiny hands. It wore a hood, hiding everything except except it's zigzagging "mouth". It's hood was long and wavering, two black dots, "eyes" were on it's top.
"Kinda cute." Xinck said, amazed at his own handy work. "Hello."
"Hello, my Lord, sir." It's voice was different, it was almost child-like, not hollow and reverberating like the Dusks.
He hated that. 'Sir' made him sound old. "Don't call me sir. Just call me Xinck."
"Yes, my liege." The new Nobody genuflected, but stood back up when he heard Xinck groan in disapproval, "I mean, yes, Xinck."
"Enough about me. I need to know what to call you. What can you do?"
"You gave me Scythes in my hands. Perhaps the name Cutter would suit me."
"Nah, when I think of Scythes, I think of Grim Reaping, not Grim Cutting." Xinck pulled himself up on his bed and crossed his legs. "How about Reaper? It's short, sweet and to the point."
"Very well. I shall be known as Reaper."
"No, no, no! That's not what I meant. You are a Reaper, that's the kind of Nobody you are. It's not your name."
"Oh, very well then."
"What is your name?" Xinck asked.
"My...my name?"
Xinck reached down off his bed and grabbed the Reaper under it's arms and sat down it down beside him. "You don't remember your name?" One possible outcome of turning a Dusk into a different Nobody is the awakening of memories from their old lives.
The Reaper placed a contemplative hand underneath it's chin. "I will have to think about that for a second."
"Alright. Take your time." He said with a sigh and rolling of his eyes, "It's not like I have anything else to do."
Just then, directly across the room, the door thundered with knocks. Larxene called, "Xinck! Open up! We gotta talk! Now, dammit!"
"You go to Hell!" Xinck shouted back. The door was locked, but that wouldn't stop her from breaking it down. Xinck leaped from his bed, leaving his Reaper in deep thought. He held up a hand, concentrated and with his ring finger drew a green circle in the air. He said, "Teire'li Neta (Lock (it) tight)." On the door, like a hologram, green lines wrapped around the door, then disappeared, reinforcing the door by 100%.
"OPEN THIS DOOR, DAMMIT!" Blasts of thunder shook the wall around the door, but it did not budge.
"Just a little added safety..." Xinck punched both his knuckles together and a translucent, black sphere appeared and expanded, consuming him, his Reaper, his bed and his entire room. "Banish the Dark!" Not a spell, but it was his own way to shut off all Corridors of Darkness to his room, all the while keeping his room perpetually dark.
"WHY AREN'T THE FUCKING CORRIDORS WORKING! XINCK!"
Xinck laughed madly and shouted, "Suck my fat tits!" Wait, what? It was the first thing he could come up with. All he knew was that it made Larxene madder. It made him feel so good, it was almost euphoric. He almost felt like he could do anything!"Oh, yeah. This is what Crack must feel like!"
"Uh..Xinck?"
"Yes! My little Reaper friend!" He turned abruptly to the tiny Nobody standing behind him. "What is it?"
"Pietro Alessandro Rioveci D'Ambrosio."
"Wha..."
"My name. I am Pietro Alessandro Rioveci D'Ambrosio."
Xinck snorted, blinked then scratched at his head, "Oh, you're Italian. Pietro Alessandro Rioveci D'Ambrosio. Wow, that's quite the mouthful. Do you have a nickname? Or something shorter?"
"Rioveci."
"Ah, excellent."Xinck reached down and held out a welcoming hand to the small Reaper, "Nice to meet you, Rioveci."
Rioveci placed his small hand in Xinck's and shook, "You, too, Xinck."
The Organization places an X in their name for Brotherhood. Change the name. A name gives meaning. The New you. Xinck's curved into an evil smile, "So how do you feel about the letter X?"
I gave my Reaper, Rioveci, the name Xercivio. I don't think you're supposed to give Lesser Nobodies the X anagram, but I did anyway. What are they gonna do, sue me? I think I'll hang around him for a little while, hopefully he'll come out of his "Nobody" shell eventually and just start talking like a normal person. He said that he was starting to remember things from his old life, small things like his favorite food or favorite color (it's Teal). He told me he's 11 years old.
Pietro Alessandro Rioveci D'Ambrosio
Wow. Got enough names?
My Redux. I have to find a name for it. I read, like, one page of that pamphlet and that was one of the only things I remember about it: You have to name your Redux. And the other thing was that the best time to do your Redux is whenever you can prevent yourself from dying...or something like that.
I think I'll use Japanese in the name. Japanese is cool. Toire wa doko desu ka means "Where is the Toilet?" It's not what I'm calling my Redux, I just wanted to write down where is the toilet. Don't know why.
I guess this is it. I'm getting tired. I have to get up in a few hours to go on a mission.
Oh, one more thing before I go. I wanted to write this down because I thought it was something worth remembering. In one of the books I read, I looked over a section about ancient civilizations. One of these was a Super Civilization, now extinct, it's name is unknown, but one of their greatest inventions was an unstable element called Bazillium, which, I think actually killed them all in a horrible blaze of hell fire.
Anyway! I saw a sample of their language and it looked like this written in English: Zei'i Ie Nkui.
Yes, I know it looks weird, but it sound weirder: Ze-Iiiee-Ie-Uunke'.
Roughly translated from Freaky to English, it could mean "Of greatest obscurity can my strength be born."
Quite Honestly, I have no idea what that means. Paraphrased, it could mean that my name, Xinck, means "From The Darkness I Draw My Strength."
From The Darkness I Draw My Strength. Yes, I do.
-Xinck the Fallen Deviant.
Xemnas Report
It has been a day since Xinck's outburst and gaining of Redux. He's going on his own missions now and has successfully created his own subordinate Nobody, ones he calls Reapers. I heard from Xigbar that Marluxia spent three straight hours bitching over the name for some reason.
In other news, I successfully contaminated the water supply with my new, highly-experimental drug, which I have named "Xemnas In The Sky with Diamonds." As I said in my earlier reports, it is an altered form of of LSD. It causes violent suicidal/homicidal outbursts in Humans (and Cannibalism in Jimmy Fallon). In order to test it's effects on Nobodies, I poured the drug into the water supply.
I told Saix to give everyone the day off. Strangely, most of them, save Lexaeus and Demyx, stole a large van and went to the mall. It would appear the drug caused both Insanity and a severe decrease in Intelligence. Madness and stupidity are the main effects of the drug on Nobodies, along with isolated effects depending on the individual (Yes, and I believe they killed and ate Xinck. Then he came back. Quite shocking, indeed).
The Drug effects on Demyx resulted in his odd incarceration when he tried to sneak into China, I think and Lexaeus briefly became anorexic.
It would seem the drug isn't quite as useful as I had hoped. I suppose I could keep it locked up in storage...or use it later for some brief entertainment at the expense of my subordinates.
Organization Data
*The small sentence after the Redux is not it's meaning, just a thing...
** Just thought I'd add it for the hell of it . Besides I like the name, don't you?
Xemnas
Element: Nothingness: How He makes use of this element is unknown, but it is believed that he taps into the Realm of Nothingness by separating both Positive and Negative energies.
Level: (pre-Redux): 900,000 (1,999,999 during Redux)
Presence: Obliterator. Affects Nobodies and Humans. Gravity and pressure increase severely, crushing everything within one to two miles.
Redux: Mu : Bringer of The Void, Beyond Nothingness
Xigbar
Element: Space: How he makes use of his element is unknown, but it is believed that it is how he views space that allows him to manipulate. To him, everyone stays in one place, it's Space that moves around you.
Level: (pre-Redux): 450,400 (499,999 during Redux)
Presence: Randomizer. Random, unstable Gravitational field, extremely dangerous to Humans
Redux: Tyr Gungnir: Forever Moving, Unstoppable
Xaldin
Element: Wind: Air pressure is constantly moving around Xaldin. Using his mind and body, he can redirect the flow of pressure, thus generating wind.
Level: (pre-Redux): 450,400 (521,521 during Redux)
Presence: Pressure Increases severely, Air can be sucked straight from the lungs of Humans.
Redux: ?: Winds Waging War, Skies Trembling
Vexen
Element: Ice: Water begins to freeze at 32 degrees, but Vexen can turn water into Ice by siphoning off energy in molecules (he can do this as long as water is under 40 degrees), slowing them down and generating cold. The energy he siphons off acts as a protection to himself against extreme cold.
Level: (pre-Redux): 88,994(260,000 during Redux)
Presence: Colder. Within a certain Radius, temperature drops severely, clouds freeze and large Ice icicles form in air, dropping randomly.
Redux:?:Frozen Hatred, Inventor of Chill
Lexaeus
Element: Earth : His superhuman strength allows him to move the earth, but it's his mind that allows him to manipulate the faults that surround him underground.
Level: (pre-Redux): 500,000 (730,500 during Redux)
Presence: Mover. Tremors, Earthquakes and sinkholes. All metals and Earth-based materials point towards Lexaeus.
Redux: Vaalbara/Novopangeae**: The Living Planet, Unshakeable and Stalwart
Zexion
Element: Illusion: Magic, and the manipulation of the sense of Sight, allows Zexion to create "real" illusions.
Level: (pre-Redux): 399,666( 567,666 during Redux)
Presence: Fear. Dangerous, almost real hallucinations of Fears manifest and can cause epileptic shock.
Redux: ?: Lose Your Illusion In The Eyes of Judgment
Saix
Element: Moon: Not really controlling the Moon, Saix is constantly absorbing reflected energy from any nearby Lunar object. When his reserve of energy is full, he can expel the energy in bursts that trigger a psychotic, blind rage.
Level: (pre-Redux,at max): 490,450 (720, 000 during Redux)
Presence: Anger. Rage-inducing presence. All humans within a certain Radius go into an angry fit and fight.
Redux:? : Goddess Moon Watches Over Her Devil
Axel
Element: Fire: His power to conjure fire is just the surface of his abilities. The element of Fire is actually the physical representation of Energy and Axel is able to generate more thermonuclear Energy than 3 power plants over the course of 5 years. He can generate this energy indefinitely, allowing him to never run out of fire power.
Level: (pre-Redux): 489,500 (719,998 during Redux)
Presence: Melter. The only member besides Xemnas who is required to hold in Presence at all times. Can release Radiation and melt ALL inanimate objects around him. Some humans combust.
Redux:?: Flames That Can Scorch Hell To A Crisp
Demyx
Element:Water: Demyx prefers to use his music to "play with the water" and use his mind to direct it. As long as water is not frozen, then he can manipulate it.
Level: (Pre-Redux): 200,000 (555,555 during Redux)
Presence: Forcer. Humans are 72% water, as his presence is released, that water yearns for Demyx, pulling away from the Human. The More they resist, the more the water will pull towards Demyx.
Redux:?: Perfect Ocean, Blade of The Sea
Luxord
Element:Time: At most, Luxord, by generating his own particles of time, will only stop, slow down or speed up time in a certain area (the stronger the individual, the harder it is for these affects to work on them). He never time travels and tries to discourage everyone from doing it because it only irritates him. According to him, it is impossible to change the past, not impossible to go there, but impossible to change any major event.
Level: (pre-Redux): 444,207 ( 540,000 during Redux)
Presence: Twister. Random Time-Dilation field. Humans either move faster, slower or age is randomized.
Redux: ?: Leave It All To Chance, Your Time, Your Paradox
Marluxia
Element: Flowers: Marluxia is a natural gardener, using his Chlorokinetic abilities to grow anything anywhere. Of course, he usually relies on flower-based magic in battle as opposed to actually throwing flowers at people.
Level: (pre-Redux): 818,818 (899,999 during Redux, 2nd Redux: 976,000)
Presence: Glare. Simply by staring is his presence released and stuns/immobilizes humans. He claims his beauty is that stunning.
Redux: Angelo Grazioso, Fiore Piangente-Angelo Notturno Del Fiore Immortale: Flowers Bloom, A Beautiful Death.
Larxene
Element: Thunder/Lightning: Larxene, by mentally gathering electrons on the ground and protons in the sky, can call down lightning around her (it's too difficult to gather subatomic particles on living people, so her sky-lightning aim isn't 100% accurate). In her body, electric charges build up naturally allowing her to release the energy anytime.
Level: (pre-Redux): 466,000 (599,990 during Redux)
Presence: Striker. Lightning strikes the earth 100 times per second. In the area where Larxene releases her presence, that number increases both from the sky and earth.
Redux: ?: Marvel At The Sky As It Turns Blood Red
Roxas
Element:Light: Roxas naturally gathers both waves and particles of light, and using his mind he can increase or decrease it's intensity, shape it, mold it and almost anything else he can think off. He has even demonstrated the ability to manipulate sunlight.
Level: (pre-Redux): 500,999 ( 1,999,998 during Redux)
Presence: Pusher. All presences cause an increase in Pressure around the subject and the humans in the area. The force, for all members, comes downward, but Roxas' presence goes outward from his body. His affect is to force away or push everyone around him.
Redux: Archangelus Exitium Et Creatio, Lucifer: Remember The Rebellion, Brightest In The Heavens
Xinck
Element: Darkness : Xinck is connected to the very center of darkness, finding he can manipulate anything that is absent of light. He can "kill" photons, create particles of Darkness and move them with his mind and body and mold it into any shape or form he desires.
Level: (pre-Redux): 499,999 (999,666 during 1st Redux, 1,999,997 during 2nd Redux)
Presence: Ender. Long-term exposure results in Death for some, 4-day Sleep for others.
Redux:?: Deliverer of Darkness, Sovereign of Shadows, All Fades To Black
One more Deviant's Cradle Chapter
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