Observations
The
Chronicles of Organization XIII
Of the Times
Before, During, and Following the Coming of the Keyblade
And of the
Ultimate Fate of Those That Lack Hearts
--
Prologue
Lies, Truths, and Questions
In Which
the Story Somewhat Begins
And Xemnas
Visits the Shell of His Old Home
--
The self is of three parts: the body, the soul, and the heart.
The soul serves to give life to the body and heart. Without it, the body is merely a lifeless corpse.
When one dies, the soul leaves the body; does the heart leave also? Where do they go?
Does the soul return with the heart to Kingdom Hearts?
The heart can be taken from the body; does the soul go with it, also?
When the heart is outside the body, can it be returned, or is it inevitable that it falls to darkness?
What is the nature of a Nobody? Are they purely body, soul, or both?
How do they exist? Why?
Is it possible for a Nobody to gain a heart?
Xemnas slammed down his pen and sighed in mild annoyance; musing always made his head hurt somewhat. He stared in mild dissatisfaction at the open book on his desk, filled with his own notes, mostly questions about things he was still struggling to understand. There were definately more questions than answers; a futile effort in that way, he felt.
The writing was a near-compulsive action; whenever he felt particularly hollow or annoyed, he would peruse his old research materials and add to his observations, an old habit from when he still had a heart. He could remember, when his Somebody was still quite young; studying intensely, late into the night, and writing complicated notes in a spindly scrawl whenever he felt stressful, and it confused him how such a small, repetitive act like that would stay intact, even in the absence of a heart. He exhaled and jotted down another note: Do old behaviors of the Somebody transfer to the Nobody once the heart has been seperated?
It was a perplexing dilemma, his own existence; not just his, but the existence of Nobodies on a whole. He still had no firm grasp on how Nobodies even existed, for, according to his prior research, they weren't really meant to exist in the first place. True, he and Vexen were coming close to figuring it out, but he felt fatalistically doomed to either never understand, or muddle the whole thing up (which he decided was a much worse fate.)
Why must matters of the heart and soul be so complicated? He glared at the pen, as if expecting an answer.
"Sir, if I may, are you available?"
For a moment, he foolishly thought that the pen in his hand had replied, but the deep drawl of the voice behind proved him wrong; the door to his study had opened and he turned around to see Saix standing there, his face free of expression, as usual.
"What is it now, Saix?" he said, a slight scowl on his face. "If you haven't noticed, I'm somewhat busy."
"My apologies, sir," Saix said, although his voice held no apologetic tones at all. Xemnas was silent for a while, fiddling with the pen in his gloved finger, until he realized that Saix hadn't said anything.
"Well? What were you going to say?" he said impatiently. "If you've come here to bother me, then follow through, at least."
"Yes, sir," Saix replied, "my apologies. Sir, it appears there has been...an incident."
"An incident?" Xemnas echoed, a tad interested.
"Yes, sir, there's a stir on the main level of the castle over it, and I was sent to get you," he replied.
"Well, what's going on?" Xemnas asked.
"It seems that Demyx has been spreading news about your Heartless, sir," Saix said. "I don't know much about it myself, but he is claiming that your Heartless has appeared in the former Radiant Garden and is making a mess of things."
"Really, now?" Xemnas said, now quite interested. "My Heartless?"
Saix nodded.
"Where did he get this information?" he asked.
"I am unaware of that, sir," Saix replied. Xemnas got out of his chair and placed the pen on his desk.
"Well, then, I suppose Demyx and I are going to have a little chat," he said, strolling out of his study. "As you were, Saix."
"Yes, sir," Saix replied, and once Xemnas had left, he returned to the streets of the World That Never Was, where he was gleefully destroying Heartless in a rare release of emotion.
Xemnas made his way onto the main level of the castle, and heard squabbling beyond as he walked down the corridor.
"Oh, I just know that the Superior is gonna get you in trouble for spreading lies, you fruity little loser!"
"I am not lying!"
"I just hope Saix got to him so we can get this rediculous argument settled, I want some quiet around here, for once; your incessant screaming quite gets on my nerves."
"Shut your face, Vexen! You want quiet, go to your stupid little laboratory!"
"Please be quiet, Larxene, enough is enough..."
Xemnas rounded the
corner and saw a few of the Nobodies crowded around in the main hall
of the castle. "What's going on, here?"
Immediately
there was silence.
"Ah, Superior," Vexen said smoothly. "I was waiting for you to come around."
"Demyx here's going around spreading lies," Larxene said poisonously.
"I told you, I am not!" Demyx protested.
"Nobody in their right mind would want to go around Hollow Bastion, there's nothing going on around there except that boring little witch, Maleficent and her silly little Heartless," she retorted. "Even if you are telling the truth, what in the worlds were you doing over there, anyways?"
"That's none of your business..." Demyx said bitterly, folding his arms. "Besides, why are you using that stupid name they came up with? It sounds so...disturbing!"
"Enough," Xemnas commanded. "Demyx, come with me; we'll speak in private."
"Understood, sir," Demyx replied, and walked to his side. The two of them strolled down the corridor and out of sight as Larxene shot one final insult at Vexen, who had had enough and was willing to burn some time in his lab.
"So, Demyx, what's this you're saying about my Heartless?" Xemnas finally asked, once they were a good distance away.
"Well, see...I was in Hollow Bastion, and-" he began, but Xemnas cut him off.
"Why are you calling it Hollow Bastion now? You sounded somewhat angry at Larxene for using that faux name," he said smoothly.
"Well...I dunno...spur-of-the-moment...maybe...?" he said nervously; being around the Superior always made him nervous, but he was alone this time, which added to the stress of the event. "Sir, if I might say, it doesn't make much of a difference..."
"True, regarding the matter..." Xemnas replied. "Back to what I originally was going to ask you, what were you doing there in the first place? And do not begin going on about the names, that's not important." Demyx was silent for a while, little beads of sweat collecting on his forehead.
"Er...curiosity...sir?" he replied nervously. Xemnas stared back skeptically.
"You're lying to me, aren't you?" he said coldly, and Demyx glanced towards the ceiling and shook his head, then nodded. Xemnas sighed and kneaded his forehead in annoyance; Demyx was a powerful Nobody, that much was true, but he really had a weak spot for dealing with instruction and authority, and that alone was worse than having to deal with Axel when he was feeling antsy (which generally had things igniting at random and inconvenient times.)
"Go ahead, tell me what you were doing over there. The consequences will be little, if any...I don't give a mouse's ass what you were doing over there."
"Well, er, sir..." Demyx began, scratching the back of his head, "I had heard rumors from Xigbar (he has Heartless posted over there, you know) that there was some suspicious stuff goin' on over there, and the Keybearer was wandering about, to boot."
"The Keybearer, eh?" Xemnas said, mildly interested. "You went to investigate, did you?"
"Well...sorta," Demyx replied, smiling nervously. "I went to go see what was up so I could get some information. I'm not taken seriously, sometimes, Superior."
"Well, for good reason," Xemnas replied callously, and Demyx glanced at the ceiling in humility. "Well, what did you see?"
"Lots of Heartless!" Demyx replied, weakly smiling. Xemnas wasn't amused, so he chuckled weakly and continued. "Well, I saw someone in a brown cloak stalking around in there, and he was talking to this silver-haired kid somewhere in a hallway, so I hung around and listened."
"A kid? How old, do you suppose?" Xemnas asked, beginning to walk along. Demyx followed.
"How should I know, Superior? I'm not too good with those sorts of things," he replied honestly. "He had green eyes and he talked like he knew that Maleficent woman."
"Ahh, must be her little stooge...go on, what happened?" Xemnas said.
"They started talking about darkness and power and all sorts of stuff; it was pretty boring and shallow, but it sounded like trouble," Demyx replied. "Then he took off his hood for some reason and I thought he looked a lot like you, when I got a really bad feeling, so I got outta there. Judging from that, and that egomanical speech of his and manipulative nature...no offense, sir."
"None taken," Xemnas replied stoically.
"Well, I took from what I had heard from the others that he was your Heartless, and I started telling everyone. 'course, nobody believed me, and I thought I'd be able to get some good info on the Keybearer and finally get taken seriously..."
He trailed off, thinking he said too much.
"Is that all, Demyx?" Xemnas asked. Demyx nodded.
"Yes, sir, that's all I heard and saw, and why I was there."
"You are excused, then," Xemnas said. "Thank you for reporting this, I'll be on my way."
"I'm excused?" he said, a hint of relief in his voice.
"Yes, indeed," he replied. "Inform Marluxia, Saix, or Xigbar that I'll be gone a short while, I will return soon."
"Where are you going, if you don't mind me asking, sir?" Demyx asked, as Xemnas began to walk away.
"Hollow Bastion. I do believe that I must do a little investigation of my own."
