I woke up in the trash and got adopted by the local trio.
xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

Aqua wasn't sure what she'd expected when she returned to Merlin's apartment looking for the boys… but it had not been this.

Sora and Vanitas were holding onto one another, half laid out on the ground laugh-crying as well as coughing from a lack of air, while Roxas looked annoyed and confused all at once as if they were nuts. Ventus was trying to hold it together and not laugh, half hunched into himself, while Riku seemed to be nursing a faint blush and a migraine.

Terra was at the end half of choke-coughing.

Aqua made an awkward smile that had a hint of a threat in it as she tilted her head slightly, "So what's going on here, guys?"

Ventus gasped and sharply turned to look back at her, "Aqua!" His voice cracked a little from nervousness, "Ice cream!" He held up his mostly eaten and melting stick awkwardly, as if that explained everything, when clearly it didn't.

Aqua nodded slightly, "I see. So how'd Sora and Vanitas end up like that?" She made a sweeping motion at them to make her point.

Ventus awkwardly got up to walk towards her while trying to blatantly ignore them, even though he had a very large nervous and unconscious grin on his face. "Oh, y'know. Stuff."

Aqua raised her eyebrow at him, while Kairi clasped her hands behind her back and wandered over to Riku before bending down slightly into his peripheral, "Well Riku, you clearly didn't find whatever gave Sora and Vanitas a case of the giggles funny."

Riku sighed and looked up towards her tiredly, "Honestly? Don't ask. Seriously."

Kairi raised an eyebrow, even more curious about what'd happened, while Terra finally managed to clear his throat and cough softer one last time. Terra turned slightly towards Aqua and Ventus as they turned to check on him, "Riku's right. We're not gonna talk about it."

Xion moved over and crouched by Roxas with a lifted eyebrow in silent question, and Roxas gave her a tired look. "I just don't see what's so funny about it, or why Terra reacted that way to Vanitas's question."

Terra winced and started doing panicked throat slices to tell him to shut up.

He should have known better than to think Roxas would understand.

Xion frowned slightly, "What do you mean?"

Riku panicked, but was just a little too far away to grab him.

But it was Sora who finally gasped and sat up with an easy roll onto his knees and grinned at the girls, "It was boys talk! No sharing!"

They all looked at him as he tried to keep a bright and happy innocent face while trying to not fall into a fit of laughter again. Vista was wiping his eyes, a flush on his face due to a lack of oxygen, and slowly pushed himself back into an upright position as he sighed, "Sweet Void, if I'dve known Terra would react like that, I would've waited."

Terra looked at him incredulously, "Wait, you didn't do that on purpose?!"

Vista looked gave him a mirth filled look of annoyance, "Fuck no, I was serious!"

Riku rubbed his face in his hands, "That makes it worse."

Aqua crossed her arms in annoyance, while Kairi knelt by Riku's side and lightly poked his arm for attention before giving him a look that told him he'd best fill her in later.

Aqua huffed, "Sora, are you covering for Vanitas?"

Sora blinked, the mirth dropping off of his face instantly, "What? Why would you- no! I think what he said has merit, but like, it's not something that would be appropriate to talk about with you girls."

Aqua gave Terra and Ventus looks, and they both waffled.

They knew Sora wasn't wrong, and that he wouldn't be able to lie about it, but they really needed to drop the subject.

Naminé moved over towards Vista in a new outfit that consisted of light blue leggings, a black skirt, a white button up top, and a cropped pushed up sleeve black button up cardigan with light blue flowers embroidered over her heart. She also had a light blue scrunchie on one wrist along with some bracelets similar to Kairi's on the other. She knelt down by him and he watched her curiously as she reached forward and lightly held onto his vest, "Did you have fun while I was gone, Vanitas?"

Vista blinked, "It was okay enough until Lauriam decided to show up and ruin my people watching." He shrugged, "Talked with Merlin, then these guys came back with ice cream."

Naminé nodded, filing some of that information away to ask about in detail later, "And what did you say that was so funny?"

Vista pouted slightly at her, "It wasn't funny. It was Terra's reaction to my question that was funny."

Naminé tilted her head slightly, "And what'd you ask?"

Vista flushed just slightly and hunched into himself a little, "Does it really matter? It's not a big deal!"

Naminé gave him a quiet look and Vista knew he was fucked. He'd never get out of this one, and the other boys were various forms of cringing and saying their silent goodbyes to his sorry ass. "Uh-" He blushed more as he refused to make eye contact with her, "Uhm, well, I just asked about buying something. That's all."

Naminé pouted at him, "And that made Terra choke?"

Vista hunched into himself further and nodded silently.

Naminé studied him and it was silent.

Sora knew his brother wouldn't be able to hold out against Naminé's brand of inquiry, and decided to spare his brother by throwing his hands exasperatedly, "He just asked about buying condoms! It's not a big deal! We're all teenage boys and it's not like it's bad to have them on hand just in case!" By the end of it he was red-face, and clearly half gone as he got mentally sucked into recalling some of the… things he'd accidentally witnessed while stuck on the streets for a year while his hands dropped to his sides.

But what he didn't expect was Aqua and Skuld's blank looks.

Kairi, Naminé, and Xion became various shades of embarrassed or annoyed, while Riku started to realize along with Terra and Ventus in slight abject horror.

Aqua hesitated before asking, "What's a condom?"

Sora slapped his hands over his face and groaned dramatically while Terra and Ventus gave each other looks of confusion and horror.

Vista understood Skuld's confusion, but Aqua's was surprising. He cleared his throat, "Uh, They're-" He paused, gave her a final suspicious look to search for any hint of trickery before getting onto his feet and dusting his knees off, "Y'know what? Considering all the dumbass ways your Master dealt with Ventus, lemme just give you some of the reading material Merlin gave to me." He moved towards the two girls and ushered them along, "I have a few books that would probably explain things that maybe Eraqus didn't so that you don't have to have this conversation with me of all people, or anyone else ever again." He made a quick glance around, "Where's Ava, anyway?"

Skuld followed curiously immediately, but it took Terra and Ventus's panicked nods of approval to get Aqua to follow him. Skuld answered Vista's question, "She's speaking with Merlin at the moment."

Vista nodded as he made swift ground, "Better include her too, just to make triple sure she knows this kind of stuff."

Aqua couldn't help but ask, "Vanitas, what sort of reading material…"

Her question faded as the three left the cliffside. It was after a tense moment of silence that Terra and Ventus slumped in unison, glad they were able to dodge that bullet with their friend. Kairi awkwardly shifted with a slight blush on her face as she glanced between Sora and Riku. "...So why did he ask about that?"

Sora sat back on his haunches with his hands laid flat in his lap as he looked towards her, the tiniest hint of a blush on his face, "It sort of came out of nowhere, so there wasn't really a chance to ask him to clarify why it was even on his mind."

Naminé minded her fingers in embarrassment with her head bowed, knowing he wouldn't have even thought about such a thing so soon in their relationship… which meant it was probably Merlin's suggestion. Which meant that the Wizard knew they had started a tentative relationship.

She'd have to talk to Merlin later.

Xion gave Naminé a sympathetic smile, "Don't feel bad, Naminé." The blonde looked at her friend-sister, "It's technically a good thing, isn't it?"

Naminé grimaced while Kairi minded the end of her skirt, "Uhm, Xion, it's still… really early into their relationship for that sort of thing to come up."

Roxas blinked as he abruptly understood something with wide eyes and glanced between Xion and Naminé, "Wait, Naminé's dating Vanitas?!"

Naminé flushed and Terra, Ventus, and Roxas suddenly understood why the Darkling would bring that up.

Sora huffed and adjusted into a more comfortable sitting position while giving Roxas a vaguely annoyed look, "Yes."

Riku blinked and raised a questioning eyebrow, "Since when've you known?"

Sora blinked, "Huh? It was obvious."

Naminé frowned before speaking softly, "But Sora, we haven't really-"

Sora looked at her, "Naminé, you two were weird for a moment last week. It would've made sense if I were all awkward and embarrassed after Vanitas shoved Kairi and Riku into my room for an abrupt sleepover in the middle of the night, but you two?" He shrugged, "I was gonna talk to him about it, but I wasn't able to that day and forgot afterwards since you guys seemed content and normal enough again."

Naminé observed him for a moment, searching him before slowly smiling with a tiny nod, "I see."

Terra had a weirdly contemplative look on his face, watching where the three had walked off as Ventus tried to wipe away the awkwardness by wiping his hands on his pants. Riku sighed gustily before he turned to Naminé, "Well, uh… Congratulations?"

Naminé blinked and studied Riku for a moment before smiling ,"Thank you."

Roxas was slightly skeptical, "But why him?"

Naminé's eyes widened, surprised he'd asked as a twinge of hurt went through her chest. She'd hesitantly told the girls about it while they were out and eating desserts together. She hadn't wanted to keep it a complete secret, and she wanted to be able to go to them for advice if and when needed.

But it felt like rejection, like their relationship was wrong somehow. As if something else were expected of her.

"That's rude Roxas." Sora's voice was hard and harsh as he stared Roxas down.

But Roxas stared back, annoyed and frustrated, "How is that rude? It just seems weird that she'd like a jerk like him!"

Sora shifted like lightning and snatched his black shirt at the collar, pulling Roxas in close as he spoke lowly and with an uncharacteristic threat in his tone. "He's my brother, and I won't let you look down on him just because he used to be our enemy. If Naminé's chosen to date him, and he her, then what business is it of ours right now to ask why or how?"

Roxas was wide eyed in shock. He still had some trouble dealing with his brothers, blood-related and not, but… maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised by Sora's protective reaction, since Vanitas had been so affected by Sora's emotions that he'd asked to go to the Islands. They were closer than he'd had the chance to truly understand. "I-" Roxas waffled and slumped slightly. "Sorry."

Sora held him for a tense moment longer before releasing him and slowly settling back down. Naminé watched Sora before gently placing a hand on his wrist, "...Thank you, Sora."

Sora blinked and gave her a vague smile, "Ye're welcome."

Kairi huffed and smoothed out her skirt before she smiled, "So! Were any of you actually thinking of going shopping for what Vanitas asked for?"

Sora blushed while Riku choked and exclaimed, "Kairi!"

Kairi pouted and looked at Riku, "Awe c'mon, now I'm kinda curious if any of you'd actually have the guts to buy that stuff, when you can't even buy girl stuff when it's an emergency."

Sora pouted as he grumbled to himself, "I'd do that sort of thing now…"

Kairi gave him a quick sympathetic glance as Terra cleared his throat, "That's really not something-"

Riku complained to his friend, "How do you even know what that is? We never thought about that stuff on the Islands, and you've only been back for a week."

Sora blinked, giving him a confused look before his eyes went wide. "Oh. I mean- getting stuck out on the streets as a ghost has its ups and downs, y'know? I could walk into stores at night… but I couldn't really touch or read things. I just slowly got the picture when guys would have sex with girls in various places and pull out a little square packet."

They all started to turn green as Xion hesitantly asked in morbid curiosity, "Sora, what do you mean by various places?"

Sora's eyes went a little vacant as he thought back and started ticking off with his fingers, "Elevators, stairwells, museums, the park benches and park forestry were pretty popular to the point I stopped going there… uhm. Honestly, anywhere a couple had the passing thought of 'Let's see how far we can get without getting caught' as a personal challenge made anywhere fair game." He'd also seen a lot of terrible instances of such things, and had felt more than powerless when he couldn't help the victim. It made him sick time and again when he thought about it.

However, it seemed everyone present had a similar moment of horror as Terra blurted out, "You mean people have sex in public?!"

Sora stared at him with a blank look before chuffing, "Yes."

Ventus shook his head, "Man that's… damn."

Sora snickered at Ventus's response as he leaned back slightly onto his hands and relaxed, "So yeah. I ended up accidentally seeing a lot on accident before I'd leave, or just walk in on it part way through… Anyhow, Vanitas is a pretty private guy, so he's not gonna be the type to say anything to anyone. He definitely wouldn't have told Merlin anything unless he'd been asked with no way out of it."

Naminé nodded, "Yes, I think that's the case too."

Footsteps slowly returned as Vista led the way. Ava had joined them, seeming to be a little unsure of herself while wearing her old cream boots, grey tights, a light pink skirt, cream top, and cropped light pink jacket. She glanced up at everyone with a slight flush on her face as she awkwardly waved, not used to the style of clothes she'd been convinced into, let alone being without her mask around so many Wielders.

Aqua was understandably awkward while Skuld seemed unbothered. Terra crossed his arms, "So how'd things go?"

Aqua twitched before answering with a small growl between clenched teeth, "Fine."

Terra vaguely grinned at her response before Vista noticed and glared at him, "What's so funny?"

Terra froze, "Uh-"

Vista beelined for him and stopped a few feet away as he placed his knuckles on his hips and snarled up at the tall brunette, "Look. It's not funny that your friends aren't in the Loop. It's awkward and embarrassing that these sorts of things were left out by your oh-so-good Master due to his puritan beliefs. I hate not understanding things that everyone else seems to. It'd make sense if Roxas, Naminé, and Xion didn't know about this. They're literally two! But Aqua's your peer and you and your Master let her down."

Terra frowned and glared down at him in indignation, "How was I supposed to know Master Eraqus didn't-" He cut off and froze as the abrupt thought that Master Eraqus didn't teach Ven everything either passed through his mind and silenced him. He calmed and sighed softly before glancing at Aqua awkwardly before glancing back to Vanitas, "To be fair, I only know some of what I do because of Xehanort while being possessed by his Heart."

Vista showed his teeth in disgust as he bit out, "And that's supposed to be better, meatsack?"

Terra shrunk slightly away from the Darkling despite the biting insult. He had a point. "Uh, no, not really, now that you mention it… But how would you know about that?"

Vista pulled back slightly, "Because I know what Ventus knows." And what he hadn't known.

There was silence for a moment before Ventus stepped in, "Oooookay then, guys. Let's uh, let's get off this subject for now."

Everyone came to an agreeable consensus on that and nodded in agreement.

Vista sniffed haughtily and went to sit down next to his brother, carefully weaving around Naminé and giving her the vaguest passing touch of affection and comfort that was only noticeable if you were looking for it. The smile that immediately crossed her face at his silent affirmation of affection was bright as some of the life came back to her. Kairi smiled for her sister, more than happy that she'd found someone who could understand and communicate with her in such simple subtleties.

Vista turned to his brother, "So like, are you gonna confess to anyone or are we all gonna be grey and old by the time you figure that out?"

Sora blushed, "Vanitas!"

Vista blinked innocently, "What? I mean, Roxas and Xion are totally together-"

Roxas and Xion blushed as they made noises of surprise while Ventus rolled his eyes, "Vanitas, I thought we were dropping this subject?"

Vista blinked innocently, "But harassing Sora about his feelings is a different subject!"

Ventus gave him a dull look while Sora rolled his eyes and stated, "You're just out to cause a whole bunch of trouble today, aren't you?"

Vista dramatically gasped as he held an offended hand to his chest, "Dear brother, what is it exactly that you're accusing me of?! I was enjoying myself just fine while Naminé drew the impressions she got from your various Chains of Memory before she got dragged off and it went to shit! Blame Lauriam for my vindictive attitude, not me!"

Sora spoke flatly, "Okay sure, except you control your emotions."

Vista pouted, "I'm only four, Sora." Sora pointedly slow blinked at him judgmentally, silent, before Vista cackled. "Fine. I was still honestly asking, though."

Sora pouted, "That's not a nice thing to ask me in front of everyone, especially when I don't know."

Vista tilted his head, "Don't know if or how you like them, or is it about how you wanna go about it?"

Sora blushed as he scrunched into himself uncomfortably, "...Neither and both?"

Vista blinked at him before stating, "We'll talk about this later."

Sora clicked his tongue, "You should've done that from the start instead of putting me on the spot where mine and other people's feelings could get hurt or misunderstood."

Vista observed him for a moment before nodding, "Alright. My mistake, sorry."

Sora held it against him for a moment longer before sighing and releasing it, "Okay. I forgive you."

Kairi smiled at the interactions between the two brothers and settled behind Riku, leaning against his back as he supported her instinctively. She was glad that, despite whatever misgivings they'd had towards Vanitas at first, that he had shown himself as a strong influence on Sora. He dragged out aspects of the brunette that he may have kept to himself, even from her and Riku, out into the open.

It was a little refreshing, seeing Sora grow so quickly or react in new ways with Vanitas's prodding. It took very little for him to get an answer or reaction out of Sora, but they'd been in one another's headspace before, so perhaps verbalizing private thoughts out loud towards one another didn't even phase them.

Though she couldn't help the silent wonder on just what it was that had made them so close. A tiny part of her didn't want to know how someone as bright as Sora could click so thoroughly with someone so dark… But Naminé had come to choose Vanitas as well, and she found herself happy for her sister.

Kairi took in a deep cleansing breath before resting her head against Riku's shoulderblade, exhaling softly as she closed her eyes.

Riku glanced back at her, "Tired?"

Kairi smiled, "Just a little. We went to a few Worlds and talked about a lot of different things."

Riku nodded before turning his attention to the valley before them in thought.

Aqua, Ventus, and Terra settled down at the cliffside and enjoyed the scenery, while Ava, Naminé, Skuld, and Xion huddled together to look through their pictures of the day. They all got lost in their own little lulls of conversation, staying close but allowing themselves to break up into smaller groupings. Riku prodded Roxas, and slowly the two of them started talking about various things while Kairi randomly interjected.

Sora and Vista were quiet, staring out towards the horizon with their eyes far away.

They spoke in the privacy of their minds, allowing themselves to stay around the others while keeping more disastrous thoughts silent from listening ears.

It was comfortable, and Vista faintly marveled at how he'd managed the strange fortune of being welcomed as a blot within the Light.

xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

Isa missed sitting in Vanitas's companionable silence while watching people live their lives.

It was an odd thought, but his usual table for one had grown to many.

Too much like the Organization, while being so very different.

Isa sighed silently to himself in flustered annoyance as Lea tried to get his attention. He was busy, reading various articles as he tried to decide what to do with himself.

The biggest problem with working for a shadow Organization for the better part of twelve or so years, is that the fact you'd worked as a paper pusher and task giver for that long couldn't get placed on a resume. He also hadn't completed high school. They'd been proven intelligent enough to join Ansem the Wise's apprentices, but that still left them without a high school diploma.

World Ending hiccups notwithstanding.

He pinched Lea's hand as it went a little too far for his comfort in public and bit lowly, "Lea.'

Lea snickered, "Isa, you won't even come up for air to talk to me! C'mon!"

Isa glared at him, and Lea put an elbow on the table and leaned his chin onto his hand comfortably, "I know you're trying to figure things out, but like, you need to relax a little!"

Isa slowly blinked at him, "Lea, we need to find a way to work."

Lea scoffed and waved a hand, "Isa, all we gotta do is ask Yen Sid how to go about living as Keyblade Wielders! Besides, you need training!"

Isa set his paper down in a particularly controlled manner that let Lea know he was restraining a lot of anger at the moment. He spoke tersely, "I may have access to a Keyblade, Lea, but I have no desire to Wield it. I'm not worthy of it."

Lea gave him an incredulous look, "Are you serious? Isa, my man, my beloved, please don't tell me you think you're less worthy of a Keyblade than Demyx."

Isa rolled his eyes with an exhausted sigh, "He's an Ancient Wielder, Lea."

Lea scoffed, "And how often did you yell at him to do his missions right?"

Isa stared out into the distance, clearly remembering Demyx's little steroid escapade to try and get out of training as just one of the instances of the lengths he'd go to get out of something. He frowned as he mumbled to himself, "Why in the world did he even have drugs on him?"

Lea blinked, "Say what now?"

Isa held his chin in thought, slowly going over the various things that had happened in the Organization.

Xemnas didn't tolerate failure, yet, if one looked at Demyx's track record, he was full of weird hijinks and screw-ups. Working for Xehanort brought out the fact that somehow four of their members were Ancient Keyblade Wielders, which furthered his goals, but…

Even knowing now that the man was Ephemer, the Wielder who built the foundation of Scala ad Caelum's society from the ground up, it was difficult to mesh the two identities together.

"He and Lodur are using vessels."

Lea tilted his head in confusion before attempting to connect the dots, "Uh, yeah, I guess?"

Isa sniffed, "Maybe the phrase 'brain dead' is undoubtedly suitable to him."

There was a sneeze before a familiar lanky blond waved out as he made his way towards them, "Hey guys!" He raised an eyebrow, "Were you talking about me?"

Lodur followed sedately behind the man, and Isa couldn't help the idle thought of 'speak of the devil and he will come.'

Lea snickered, "Maybe."

Edym pouted as he pulled out a seat and plopped down into it, "Hopefully nothing bad, right? Right?"

Lodur rolled his eyes and sat in his own seat, "Ephemer, you have only gotten stranger by the day, my old friend."

Edym pouted with a slump, "Bra~in!"

Isa interjected, "Actually." Edym and Lodur gave him their attention as he continued, "I was recalling the incident at Olympus where you took steroids to avoid Phil's training."

Edym winced hard and Lodur looked at his Ancient friend incensed, "You had drugs?!"

A few looks went their way as Edym motioned frantically to shut him up, "No!" He ducked down onto the table and whispered harshly, "Why would you say that so loud, Brain?!"

Lodur was angry, "Because clearly you don't have one."

Edym slumped with a disgruntled sigh, "Look-"

Isa noted Lauriam coming their way, feeling claustrophobic as more loud people came to join their slowly growing infamous table. He slumped with an annoyed sigh as Lea smiled sympathetically and squeezed his hand under the table before keeping to himself again while watching the show as it were.

Lauriam seamlessly pulled out his chair and plopped into it, frazzled and a little ruffled as though he'd been shoved out the door.

Lodur didn't really want to listen to his friend, "All of our years, centuries, and you dare touch what has wasted and destroyed so many?"

Edym's face became uncharacteristically hardened and he slammed his fist on the table, commanding a strange silence as a foreign and terrible pressure demanded compliance. Edym was staring Lodur down, hard, before the man finally relented and allowed himself to rest against the back on his seat. The pressure lifted, but Edym's anger did not. "I will explain this, once, but I won't have you come after me when you have no idea of what I had to deal with when I ended up with this vessel, got it?"

Lodur nodded silently and motioned with his hand to continue. Lauriam glanced at Lea and Isa for any sort of explanation, but they had mild to no answers to give him at the moment.

Edym sat straight and crossed his arms, becoming serious in a way they weren't used to. "So. I have the unfortunate problem of having very specific needs due to my brand of Magic for selecting vessels. Lodur has a penchant for certain types of lifestyles, but he has an ocean's worth of possibilities, unencumbered. I, however, have a sippy cup's worth of probable compatibility with any one form. Chirithy searches constantly for new vessels, not because I burn through them, but because they're incredibly rare." He glanced away from them in thought, "It isn't that Water Magic is rare. It's the ability to minutely control it along with Light particles that's so hard."

Isa blinked, "I had not realized. Your compatibility with water is Mastery level, along with your stealth skills, which was why you were a great asset to the Organization."

Edym nodded absently, "Yeah well. I can blend into the Light if I want to. A little mix of the natural water particles that float in the air along with Light particles… I just couldn't implement some of it while living as a husk."

Isa nodded, "I see."

Edym waved a hand absently, "So you see, when I ended up with this vessel as my only option, he was already on life support and his Heart had gone into the abyss. His body was there, but there wasn't anyone home. Chirithy assured me that if I entered this form, that I'd be able to get him back on his feet and living again, but… I knew going in that it was going to be hard. He had several drug addictions, and the withdrawal and physical therapy sucked. It took three years to be able to get back into proper form and figure out just how this guy channeled his Magic." He rubbed his shoulder tiredly, "But the body's permanently damaged. I don't really gain weight, and there are other issues that pop up occasionally. Otherwise it's fine, but that's why I had such… items on my person. Because they're what was left in his inventory."

Lodur's arms were crossed as he tapped his finger in frustration, "But why keep such things, Ephemer?"

Edym slumped slightly, "Because I had to use them to be free of them? This guy couldn't go cold turkey, it's half of why he ended up in the hospital and died."

Lodur gave his companion a side eye, "So, he was into music?"

Edym shrugged, "He was, but I have no talent in it, so that added onto my problems since that's mainly how he channeled his Magic. Meeting his estranged family after a year and a half was… awkward doesn't cover it."

Lodur winced, "Ah, that's always… the weird part of this whole mess."

Edym nodded tiredly, "Yeah."

Lauriam hummed, "So you simply took on his identity?"

Edym grimaced, "We~ll, this body has its set of present papers and biological relations… but they're so rocky, and because I knew absolutely nothing about the guy I had to beg the Moogles and convince them it was me to pay off the guy's medical debts solo. His family did allow me back into their lives once they realized I had no memory whatsoever and was turning for the better, but I really didn't plan to be involved. They'd already disowned him in every way but paper, so I just did my best to keep to myself. The fall of that World and kind of… dying in front of them probably wasn't my greatest moment. Don't need to add in the Nobody-can-return-to-people mess on top of everything."

Lauriam slowly nodded, "So you're basically free of those obligations."

Edym nodded and relaxed a bit, leaning on his arm tiredly, "Yes."

Isa hummed, "It's surprising you two were able to become Nobodies, let alone twice, since those aren't your original bodies. Even moreso that your Nobodies didn't reflect your original images."

Lodur closed his eyes, "That's because, to be able to truly exist within a foreign vessel such as this, we must fully adopt that body as our own. I still recall my original appearance- it is forever etched onto my Heart and Chirithy will always ensure its clarity, however…" He glanced at Edym.

Edym blinked, "I remember what I originally looked like just fine. Even helped out Sora at the Graveyard with my Heart alone."

Lodur paused, "Excuse me?!"

Lea sat forward, "What do you mean helped out at the Graveyard?!"

Edym raised an eyebrow and looked between them all, "I mean. I got benched! Ienzo and Ansem sent me off with Vexen with Roxas's Replica body, all Data'd up and ready to gain a Heart. Vexen protected his body when I said I'd help you guys out. He had no idea what I was doing, and was pretty annoyed with me when I seemingly went to sleep." Edym shrugged, "I'd already regained my Heart, and since I'm used to body hopping, I was pretty confident in being able to jump to Sora and influence the Keyblades that were laid to rest, but still lived because of their Wielders."

Isa frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

Edym tilted his head, "What, the Dead-but-living Keyblades? They're the Keyblades of the Dandelions waiting to Awaken. Their Keyblades slowly accumulated to me- don't know why, but they slowly came into my protection. So, with my affinity for Light, I helped Sora by influencing their Wills to join with his cause of defeating the Great Darkness."

Lea was almost breathless, "You say that like it's just another day at the park!"

Edym gave him a weird look, "Wha? No I- It's just, I've never talked about it. It just happened and it's simply been like that for me for a few thousand years. I'm aware of how intense that would seem, but Sora has how many Keychains available to him?"

Isa contemplated, "Roxas and Xion had several at their disposal…"

Edym nodded, "Exactly! And Keyblades don't necessarily belong to one person- Oh sure, there's the particularly personal ones that are literally birthed from the Heart like Terra, Aqua, and Ven's newer one, along with the Foreteller's and the Keyblades Xehanort and Vanitas used… but that's pretty rare. The rarest is Kingdom Key and it's Dark counterpart."

Lea raised an eyebrow, "But Roxas and Xion used Kingdom Key…"

Edym nodded, "They did, but Sora's situation at that time allowed it. Xion's current Kingdom Key, while a true Keyblade, is simply a copy of the genuine article. Her version isn't part of the x-blade. Only Sora, and King Mickey's Keys are the genuine articles that make the base of that thing."

Isa slowly nodded, "I see. But that doesn't fully explain my original inquiry."

Edym blinked, "Oh, the form thing?" He shrugged absently, "Meh. It's a protection safeguard of the body itself. It knows the form it had when it was born, so our older ones can't influence it. I think the only reason Roxas ended up with Ven's appearance was 'cause Ven's Heart stayed with the body to protect it… However, he was too deep into Sleep to do anything, so Sora's body grew its own Heart to create Roxas as a new unique person with the influence of Ven's. I may not know any deeper particulars after that, but wasn't Sora a Sentient Heartless for a while?"

Isa felt tired, "So it would seem, yes."

Lea groaned with a stretch, "This is way too philosophical and deep for me."

Isa gave Lea a dull look, "This was what we excelled in to get into the Apprenticeship program."

Lea winced and rubbed his neck, "Chyeah, well-"

Lauriam smirked, "He must've burned off too many brain cells."

Isa smirked and Lea gaped at him, "Y-Excuse me! Where do you get off-!"

Isa chuckled, "Well, you certainly went out with a bang. Fortunate that Even didn't lose his intelligence after you crisped him."

Lea slumped with a grimacing pout, "Oh yeah, rub that in why don't you."

Edym gave Lauriam a once over, "So what happened to you?"

Lauriam huffed, "I had the foolish notion of simply… talking with Vanitas."

Lea sniffed, "Well that was your mistake right there."

Lauriam had vaguely bitter smile, "I may have vaguely forgotten my promise to Merlin to not approach his Ward without supervision. I had hoped my anger would be better controlled, and that we might perhaps have a civil conversation."

Lea rolled his eyes, "Clearly that failed."

Lauriam's face went blank, "I believe it was my fault things went south. I knew full well he wasn't in the mood."

Lodur gave him a quick look, "So what did Merlin do?"

Lauriam shrugged, "Interfered by interrupting Vanitas in the middle of a challenge to me after I'd caused a ruckus. Got shoved off the ledge with Merlin's staff after a good scolding."

Lea blinked, smirked, and covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Isa blinked slowly, "Merlin shoved you off with his staff."

Lauriam frowned, "It's quite hefty, and I wasn't expecting it."

Isa tried to not catch Lea's case of the giggles as he tried to control his grin, "I see."

Lodur tapped his fingers on his arm in an unheard rhythm, "What is your opinion of Vanitas, Isa?"

Isa blinked in surprise at the question, tilting his head slightly as he regarded the Gambler. "He is an interesting influence, but seems more curious than anything. Perhaps, if I dare say it, like a cat."

Lodur's eyebrows raised in slight surprise and interest, "A cat?"

Isa nodded, "Intelligent, observes the World around him, knows things we may never understand… He can see, smell, and hear things we cannot, and he would rather be by himself. However, he does allow people to join him in the quiet, to be within his space, and if he so chooses to trust you, he will open up and perhaps even enjoy and seek out your presence."

Edym slowly nodded, "Seems about right to me."

Lodur turned to Edym, "You believe we should leave him be?"

Edym looked at Lodur and gave him a small smile, "There are Keyblades of Light and Keyblades of Darkness. All must be in balance, Lodur. If not, what happened with Scala ad Caelum or another Xehanort's gonna rise up to even the tides again. And honestly? I've had to deal with the Darkness bucking up against too much Light a few too many times to really wanna face that more than once in less than a decade, thanks. That normally takes centuries to build up."

Lodur sighed softly, "He will influence the young ones."

Edym pointed at him tiredly, "See, and that's why Eraqus fucked Ven over, my friend. I understand your hatred of the darkness. I was literally forced to land a fatal blow on that person, my dear friend to protect Skuld, all so that we could lock several of the more Sentient Darknesses away. But now these kids don't know anything about the dark, how it enters the Heart, or how to protect themselves from it outside of overcompensating with the Light in their Hearts."

Edym gave Lodur a tired look, "Aqua is irreparably damaged from that philosophy. She will heal, but it has gouged out a chunk of her that even she may not realize still. She's vulnerable, and Terra never figured out how to deal with his own seeping darkness. Of this generation, only Riku has been able to overcome that darkness, and make it into a positive impact upon himself. Sora and the others are going by pure blind instinct and luck, with their safeguard as Kairi as a Princess of Heart… but she can't carry that Role forever. That would be cruel."

Lodur gripped his arms, "I dislike it."

Edym snorted with a roll of his eyes as he waved an absent hand, "Well, that's how I've come to see it. Observe, let them learn for at least a year, and see how things go. Don't mess with Vanitas, 'cause if no one else, Sora will protect him, and honestly? His Power may have been reset, but Ava, Vanitas, and Merlin have him on a steady pace back to where he should be. I'm not challenging that. Not when he has permanent possession of the x-blade."

The table paused as Lauriam hesitantly asked, "T-the- excuse me, what?"

Edym blinked slowly, "Xehanort, in his last moments with the living, passed over the x-blade to Sora in a fit of poetic irony and possible insanity. It's Sora's Right of Passage into being made a Wielder." He shook his head with a cleansing sigh, "The reason the Keyblade that Eraqus, Brain, and I Wielded was generally used to bequeath a Keyblade, was so that that Keyblade would always be passable to whatever Wielder was chosen as its Keeper without risk of rejection. Sora didn't have that- he was chosen by the Worlds and circumstance. Because of that, no one had given him his Rights, and Xehanort did just that when he handed over the x-blade. It's Sora's, and it's a very much so alive Keyblade that's connected to Kingdom Key- His naturally obtained Keyblade."

Isa frowned, "So Keyblades are alive."

Edym nodded, "Yup. Have their own quirks and personalities." He lifted his hand and summoned the Keyblade they'd associated with Aqua for some time, "This one talks a lot, sing and hums. It's very picky despite being so thoroughly loved over the centuries." He dismissed it and looked over to Lea, "Yours probably doesn't talk much because it's so thoroughly connected to your companionship with your chakrams. If you took time to meditate with it out and tried to connect to the soul of it, you might finally begin to get a feel for its personality."

Lea gaped before slowly nodding in contemplation, "Oh."

Edym glanced at Lauriam, "Yours ever talk to you?"

Lauriam was silent for a long moment. "Very little. It's presently cross with me, and I'm more than fortunate it has given me the grace to Wield it again. I'm thankful for its mercy."

Edym nodded solemnly, "It'll open up again, you just gotta let go of some of your rage."

Lauriam gave Edym a disapproving look, and Edym shrugged it off like water off his back, "Just saying."

Lauriam sighed tiredly, "You're right."

Lodur observed Isa, "And what of you, and the blade you were bequeathed by Lauriam?"

Isa blinked, "You can tell who bequeathed me?" Edym and Lodur nodded as Isa relented, "I see. Well. My Starlight spoke with me almost immediately."

Edym raised an eyebrow while Lodur hummed in contemplation, "I suppose your affinity for the Moon may boost your affinity for the vast acceptance of the Stars."

Isa shrugged, "That may be, however…" He struggled to collect his thoughts for a moment, "It is perhaps my perception of myself that makes it difficult to believe that I can Wield a Keyblade at all."

Edym raised an eyebrow, "What's that mean?"

Isa smiled bitterly, "I am an adult."

Edym blinked before he leaned forward to squint at him, "This isn't like wanting to be a Lost Boy when you're all grown up like in Neverland. Keyblades don't discriminate against age- it's merely a matter of whether your Heart is strong or not. Likewise, how many kids d'you think are strong-hearted enough to deal with being made into what is essentially a child soldier under the guise of adventure?"

Isa felt a chill run down his spine as Lea shifted uncomfortably. Isa felt slightly mollified, "I see, I suppose that's an observation I had not yet quite accepted, despite it being rather clear."

Edym nodded sagely, "Take it at your own pace Isa. Simply hold it, let it talk to you, and allow it to feel you out and you it. They're our partners and if nothing else, it'll be a good side weapon to your Claymore."

Isa slowly nodded, "Yes, I suppose so. Thank you."

Edym nodded and sat back, pleased.

xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

A/N: It's my birthday today. I've been busy this week so sorry for the slightly shorter chapter.

Also, I'm glad a couple of you enjoyed how I ended last chapter. I had the giggles for a while after posting it myself.

Please R&R!