'Twas Between Us
Chapter 4
An Inquiring Tune
There was a winding interior staircase in the Castle That Never Was called the Despondent Stairwell. It climbed in-between several floors and wrapped around a central, massive pillar. If one were to fall off its steel railings, they would plummet into a thousand mile drop to the bottom of the castle. The Lesser Nobodies that prowled the castle never usually showed concern at the drop. This included the vapid Dusk that slithered through the air, following the stairwell up. The Nobody did not really need to follow the stairwell, being able to fly, but it felt compelled in a sense, almost as if chasing a kind of normalcy. As the vapid Dusk paused to consider this, it took notice of melodic notes tapping the air from a flight above. It was a steady strumming by skilled fingers and the noise echoed, falling into the emptiness below.
The vapid Dusk twisted up the stairs to follow the noise. It was met by the sight of a black-coated figure with brown hair cut short at the top and hanging down in the back. He played a blue sitar draped over his lap as he sat on the railing overlooking the drop.
Demyx glanced over, catching sight of the Lesser Nobody. He grinned.
"Heya, Dusk!" Demyx called. He plucked a few strings and asked, "How do you think that song sounded?"
Very much like the strings of an instrument being strummed rhythmically, the Dusk stated neutrally.
Demyx's smile dropped. He scratched his head, "Yeah. Don't know what else I was expecting."
There was a long pause. Demyx glanced around, trying to settle his gaze. Not really having eyes, the vapid Dusk didn't have this same problem. The Lesser Nobody did seem to linger a bit awkwardly. It wondered if Demyx had forgotten that, when a Dusk is summoned, it is not allowed to leave until it is ordered to.
Demyx sighed, akin to a deflated balloon.
"It's been so quiet lately," he said, thoughtlessly plucking at a string. "Like, I thought things were quiet before, but, man. Castle Oblivion really did a number on the group. Now there's only, what? Nine of us left?"
There are seven left, the vapid Dusk answered.
"Wait—seven?!" Demyx exclaimed. He tried counting on his fingers.
The Lesser Nobody dipped its head in a kind of shame and clarified, Master Roxas is no longer with us. We were…unable to retrieve him before the Keyblade bearer reawakened.
"Ohh, right. There was whole thing that with the other Keyblade guy. So now he's running around instead." Demyx furrowed his brow, saying, "But we had someone else too, didn't we? I could've sworn…" He paused, as if his mind searched for a memory and then lost it all of a sudden. Demyx shook his head and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. He surprised the Lesser Nobody by saying, "It's a little amazing though, isn't it?"
Despite not having eyes, the vapid Dusk blinked in confusion. It inquired, Master, would you clarify what it is you consider 'amazing'?
"Well, he's technically got his heart back, right? I mean, I know Roxas was kind of a weird case, but I think it still counts. It's like he just sorta got split in half and then put back together again. Recompleted, I guess."
The word 'recompleted' struck the Lesser Nobody. It felt like a surprisingly pleasant note struck from an oppressively hollow bell.
Demyx toyed with the sitar again, tuning it distractedly. He murmured, "It sounds a lot simpler than havin' to construct a whole Kingdom Hearts to make some new ones for ourselves." He leaned back his head and sighed, "It kinda feels like Roxas got out the easy way."
"A luxury we do not possess," a flat voice spoke directly behind Demyx.
Demyx yelped, the sitar fumbling out of his hands. He also tipped forward unwillingly, towards the massive drop. Demyx yelped louder.
The vapid Dusk darted beneath Demyx to catch him, but the sitar landed in its bound fingers instead. Demyx didn't tip very far since a gloved hand caught him by his hood. Demyx made a choked gulp as he was tugged back onto his seat. He quickly fumbled back onto the solid ground and off the railing. Demyx sighed in relief. He promptly shoved this sigh back down his throat once he met eyes with Saïx, a higher-ranking Organization member.
Saïx stated, "Number IX, you have been assigned to a new task,"
The blue-haired man appeared rather nonplussed about Demyx's near-fall. Catching him was nothing more than a means to an end. Demyx was needed for a job, so it wouldn't do for him to plummet to the bottom of the castle. He continued, "You shall go to Olympus Colosseum and determine the temperament of the Keyblade Bearer. The Superior wishes to analyze his usefulness towards our goal and if perhaps there are any remnants of our former member."
"So…basically seeing if there's still enough Roxas in him to wanna help us?" Demyx replied, scratching the back of his head. "But, uh, what if he doesn't want to?"
Saïx's eyes were as flat as a claymore's blade. He answered simply, "If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition."
"Ah."
Demyx pulled some paper and a pen from his pockets, the things he used to write down his songs, and he made some notes.
Saïx turned his attention to the vapid Dusk, which dipped its head respectfully. The blue-haired man stated, "You are dismissed. Return to your regular duties."
Yes, Master, came the noiseless, obedient reply. The Lesser Nobody returned the sitar to Demyx, who uttered a little, "Oh, hey. Thanks," before the Dusk slithered off through the air.
It tried to return to its regular patrols. Any other time, the vapid Dusk would have immediately slipped back into its role, as well as cog fits into its place within a clock. Without Organization XIII, it would have no purpose, no direction. Simply nothing, not meant to be. Yet, a quiet, single word caused a terrible disruption in its obedient resignation. The vapid Dusk lingered outside the castle walls, its silvery body practically blending into the network of grey pipes. Above, the pale glow of an unfinished moon hung in the black sky, and the celestial body was steadily building into the shape of a heart. But that moon was so distant and its glow seemed unnatural. It was unnatural. Nothing about Nobodies was meant to be natural, that was why they needed to bend the universe to their will, to incorporate themselves back into where they had been unfairly banished. That is the sad truth that all Nobodies were told upon their birth.
Yet, the word 'recompleted' wreaked havoc within the Dusk. It was a false hope, even more so than trying to create new hearts. But this hope seemed brighter. To be split apart, separated from its heart, only to come back together again, it was a dream the Dusk almost didn't dare to dream.
The vapid Dusk was suddenly reminded of the snippet of a Shadow. Was it still alive? Did it remember their conversation?
It was also reminded of all the Shadow Heartless it had since seen. They were nothing but feral, light-hungry creatures. The hope in the vapid Dusk dwindled into a speck. No, it was not likely. A Nobody had its memories, and a Heartless was nothing without its desires. Memories meant nothing to a Heartless, and the little Shadow would have doubtlessly forgotten the Dusk. Turning up its head, the vapid Dusk looked to the incomplete moon. Perhaps the snippet of darkness was already slain by the Keyblade. Then its corrupted heart would have been captured by their artificial Kingdom Hearts to be used to make new hearts. The Dusk tried to comfort itself with this thought, but it only felt emptier than before.
'A luxury we do not possess'.
Its master's words were cold as machine parts, reminding the it of its purpose. The vapid Dusk forced itself to lock out the intrusive thoughts. The memories of feelings muddled its thinking. It could not afford uncertainties. It only had Organization XIII and it would serve them dutifully, only then would it be rewarded. The vapid Dusk dripped from the wall and slithered through the sky, weaving itself back into a tangle of other Dusks. The thought of the little Shadow was nothing more than a snippet within its own hollow core.
CatCrescent:Since the Vapid Dusk has kind of an inside-view with the Organization, I wanted to take this opportunity to imagine the context of certain things, like "Where did Demyx get the words for his cue cards from?" The phrasing "liberate his true deposition" sounded like it would come from Xemnas or Saix, so I went with Saix. Also, I almost forgot about the umlaut in Saix's name. It was very nostalgic to search for that again in my Microsoft Word.