Discalimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Notes: Written for LJ's "30kisses" comm for Theme 15: Perfect Blue. I had realized that I hadn't written anything for these challenges in which I totally made shit up. So I wrote this.
Aristocrat
Ansem the Wise wasn't a man that just anyone could get to know personally. As the leading expert in his field, and the man responsible for the most recent scientific breakthroughs of the time, he was Radiant Garden's both local and national celebrity. It was an honor among honors to become an understudy of Ansem the Wise, and one didn't receive that opportunity purely by chance. In the beginning there were only to be five chosen, only the brightest of boys and the most outstanding of pupils; only the best of the best would see the chance to learn under the direction of Ansem the Wise.
While it was said that the survey went unaffected by social class or wealth, in the end only the top schools were scouted for possible applicants; the schools with the highest tuition.
It began with Even. A very withdrawn boy, choosing his personal interest in the Sciences and Mathematics over activity in teenage social circles, much of his family's wealth was already going towards the furthering of his education and the fostering of his academic interests. Recognized as an exemplary student by both current and previous instructors, he was the first to receive the proposal to become an understudy of Ansem the Wise. It was immediately accepted.
Next came Dilan, Braig, and Elaeus, all three being chosen for their very rounded, quite nearly outstanding student repertoires. They had each shown the potential for exponential intellectual growth on top of their already high academic standards, thus prompting their induction into Ansem's personal group to be considered and later accepted.
Ienzo was to fill the fifth and final position, being more of an aristocrat than an extraordinary student or genius. The term "paid-off" was never exercised in the media, but it was, for the majority, a truth kept in the closets; the boy was intelligent but not quite prodigious, interested but not quite fascinated. It wasn't to say that he was a spoiled child, but his lack of interest in his own future was well supplanted by his family's active roles in the planning of it. His wily way with words and his crafty manner of speaking and acting around others were overlooked as minor personality traits, not to be listed as quirks or defects. He was a rich, above average student in good health, and with no cumbersome deficiencies. Despite his young age, Ienzo was accepted.
Xanhort arrived at the last moments as a wild card, a homeless child the compassionate Ansem found wandering the dark streets one night, his nearly superhuman intelligence surpassing even that of the five pupils already gathered. As a special exception Ansem allowed the boy to work underneath him, no cash, credit, or debit required.
Eventually all six of the boys made the transition from Homo Sapien to next to nothing, as they all became Heartless and Nobodies of their own will. As all six of them had been gathered, all six the best of the best, all six retained their form. It was an achievement never before performed and never again reciprocated.
Ienzo-- now Zexion --though not quite adored by Xenmas both because of his age and the methods by which he had entered his apprenticeship, had earned his place when he had successfully convinced Ansem of the necessity of beginning experimentation on human subjects, which led to the inception of the Organization. Nonetheless, Xenmas retained a position as number one, the leader of their Organization, while Zexion was placed at number six, the very bottom of the chain. With both his age and academic differences separating him from the top five, let alone his usefulness being only minimal, Zexion didn't enjoy his first few years as a nothing. He became negative, sarcastic, and cynical; preferring-- now more than ever --his solitude.
The inception of new members began slowly, not many people having hearts strong enough to support their form even after the heart's disappearance. But even with the addition of Saï x, defaulting at number seven, Zexion was still cast somewhat near the bottom, the other members giving Saï x higher reverence for his irrepressible determination and his understanding of what it meant to be a Nobody. It wasn't until the discovery of Axel that Zexion felt any superiority in the Organization. If the Superior had disliked Zexion, he hated Axel. Axel's come-what-may, devil-may-care attitude was a shock to the Organization's structured way of life, his range of emotions far overshadowing that of anyone previous to him, and his personality was so loud and obnoxious that the other members either loved him or hated him, though most just hated him while secretly loving him.
Axel sexuality was never a question as he quite openly flaunted it, and in the case of Zexion it must be said that like sailors on a ship men will do what they must and learn to like it. Zexion had been a rich boy, not quite spoiled rotten, but used to getting what he wanted. When he found himself wanting Axel, it was no surprise that he got him. They became the Organization's much talked about couple (or at least, talked about as much as grown men without hearts cared to gossip), both being high on the Superior's list of least favorite members, but both rather extraordinary.
Axel changed drastically however, with the appearance of Roxas, the only one ever to enter the Organization younger than Zexion. Where Axel had in days past spent his spare time in his lover's room, he now spent it at his new friend's side, having seeming found a replacement companion though none ever were too sure of just to what extent Roxas could replace Zexion. When word spread that Roxas had suddenly left the Organization, Zexion was sure that had Axel still had a heart, it would have broken-- neatly, cleanly --in two. And never had Zexion been any more jealous in his life.
But in the end Zexion's mistake had been thinking he could make it all go back to normal, that pretending Roxas never existed was an option. Zexion had been rich and spoiled after all, getting everything he had wanted since day one, and when he wanted Axel to "forget about that insipid boy with his worthless lock picks and come back to bed," oh yeah, Axel let him have it.