Ch.10

The first thing Saix had to do before anything else, was to analyze the situation. He needed a clear mind and head to understand what his next move would be. He began by taking note of was how the basement team had not done so well either. Riku had showed up sometime after Sora, but in the basement of the castle. From there the basement team had dealt with him, which of course lead to Vexen getting the data he needed for the Riku Replica,

But after that there was still the real Riku to deal with. And his use of darkness was more surprising than what they had apparently expected. From what Saix could tell, Lexaeus had been defeated by Riku. Saix wondered how much darkness was influencing the boy at that time to be able to take down a man such as Lexaeus.

"Perhaps I should pay a visit to Zexion first."

Saix headed down to the lowest part of the castle, where the basement teams room was. He appeared through a dark corridor and saw Zexion standing in the corner of the room. As soon as Saix came close, Zexion stared long and hard at him.

"What are you doing here, Saix?"

"Does it matter at this point?" Saix asked.

"Half of the members who came here have been defeated. Lexaeus defeated by Riku, Larxene by Sora, and…" Zexion stopped as he came closer to Saix. "Vexen by you."

Saix breathed in, keeping his calm composure. He had no doubt that Zexion would so some hostility. Zexion was always close to Vexen in the Organization. Zexion's want for knowledge and science undeniably was influenced by Vexen himself. While Saix never paid attention to the others too much, he could only assume that they were like father and son. And now Saix had gone and killed Zexion's father figure.

"I regret what I had to do, but it was under orders of Marluxia to do so. And I only did it so I could acquire the exact information needed to prove that Larxene and Marluxia were trying to overthrow the Organization."

"Regret? Ha," Zexion scoffed. "Funny that you claim you could do that without a heart."

"Believe what you will, but it is what it is."

"And so you also knew that Marluxia and Larxene were traitors," Zexion said, more as a statement rather than a question.

Saix nodded. "I suppose then you also figured it out, and were planning to do something about that?"

"Indeed. With Riku still in the castle I thought he could be beneficial to that, but if Sora's already going against Marluxia then I see there is no point."

"Speaking of Riku, I must ask. Was he really proving to be difficult?"

Zexion shifted to the side, and his eyes averted to the ground. It was clear that the subject was difficult for him to talk about. Aside from Vexen, Lexaeus was the only other one Zexion ever seemed to be close with.

While Saix didn't know too much about everyone's lives before the Organization, he did recall that Zexion was usually around one of those two. If Vexen was like a father to Zexion, then Lexaeus was a big brother. But now he was the last one of that small group that still was alive.

Suddenly Zexoin's gaze was back on Saix. "While the original plan for Riku is out the door, there is still something that can be done. But I unfortunately I need to ask you for something."

"And that would be?" Saix asked.

Zexion slowly crossed his arms as he kept a serious gazes towards Saix. "With the time you spent with the others, and working around Sora. One of you must have created a card with the data of his home, right?"

"And if I did?"

"I would like to use it. If you have that data, please give it to me."

"And what for? Is it to make a ploy towards the boy and avenge Lexaeus?"

Zexion frowned. "What should it matter what I do? You know I don't work in such a manner. On top of that, I think you should be more thankful that I am going after Riku first! I would like to deal with you after what you did to Vexen. I want to make sure you pay for what you did. It was far too out of line and I will not stand for it. But…" Zexoin's frown formed into a smirk. "I think I'll hold off on that for now."

"Hmph. Do whatever then. I personally don't care," Saxi replied as he pulled out the card that held the data for Destiny Islands.

Zexion snatched it from Saix's hand, his smirk still blatantly across his face. "Thank you."

Zexion vanished after that, leaving Saix to stand alone in the darkly lit basement room. Zexion's vague threat still lingered in Saix's mind, but it did not leave the impact that Zexion had hoped. It was such a weak open ended threat that Saix sought nothing of it.

"Even if he does try to pull something on me, it will be too late for him. But I'll let him have some time to do what he pleases. It gives me time to handle the other thing I've been waiting to do."

Saix left the room and began walking down one of the various halls of the castle. At some point he sensed that Marluxia's presence was no more. Sora had achieved what he had set out to do, which left one less thing for Saix to take care of.

Now as Saix continued to walk, he noticed someone at the end of the hallway. A familiar figure wearing an outfit of darkness was slowly walking ahead. It was the replica of Riku. Saix still had his thoughts and opinions on the boy, and with nothing to do but wait, he wanted to take the time that he could. It was better late than never

Saix picked up his pace and got within talking range. He cleared his throat instead of trying to say something. He didn't even know what he would start off with, but he had hope that he could figure out something along the way.

The replica turned around and face Saix, a saddened expression over his face. He didn't speak, only kept still and stared at Saix.

Saix knew that the replica once again had the knowledge that he was a fake. But unlike before, where he knew it and sought it as a way to be better than the real Riku, he was now devastated. It was clear the reason was due to the fact he now had memories of a childhood with Namine. But now he learned they were all fabricated. Everything he thought he knew was a lie.

Saix frowned slightly as he thought back to when Namine was forced to first write the fake memories. He still could recall the fearful 'no' that the replica had shouted. It still left an impact in Saix's mind. Another person that he wished he could have helped sooner. But maybe, just like with Namine, it wasn't too late.

"What do you want?" the replica finally asked, seeing that Saix had not spoken yet.

Instead of trying to find a reasonable answer to give, Saix instead sought to ask the replica something. "Why are you all the way out here? Last I saw, you were with Namine and Sora."

The replica's shoulders shifted, indicating the subject was sensitive to him. "I wasn't needed there anymore. They didn't need a fake like me dragging them down."

From the saddened tone, Saix could see the replica was still hurt from the knowledge that he was a fake. It was such a stark contrast to how he was before, both when he knew he was a replica and then when he had the fake memories and thought he was Riku.

"So that's it then? You're just going to leave? Nothing more you want to do?" Saix asked.

"Sora defeated Marluxia. And Namine probably doesn't want me around anyways. We never even knew each other and she knows that. So I don't see why I should stick around when I was never there for her to begin with."

"I see. Then does that mean that you are going off on your own?"

"I don't know!" the replica yelled. He let out a huff of air as he crossed his arms. "I have nowhere to go. I'm not wanted and I am just a fake."

"There's always something that you can do. You just need to discover what it may be."

The replica scowled. "I don't need any advice from you."

He turned to leave, but Saix choose to speak up quickly. "I'm sorry."

The replica stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn around completely, but he did look over his shoulder. "What?"

"When Marluxia and the others force Namine into writing up your… memories… I only stood there and watched. I want to let you know that I wish I could have done something at the time, but it was at a time where I could not step out of line."

"You what?!" the replica shouted. "You stood there and did nothing?!"

"Yes sadly. It was not my place to speak out then, I wished I could have done something but-"

Saix stopped abruptly as he saw the replica charging at him. Summoning his claymore, he blocked the oncoming sword that ended up a little too close to his face to be comfortable. The replica was glaring at him angrily, gritting his teeth and holding his weapon tightly.

"You should have done something!"

The replica jumped back before trying to attack again. Saix had the upper hand this time. He was stronger and more powerful than the replica was. But he didn't want to have to use that strength to stop the replica. He only had hoped to talk with him and help. A new, more difficult task was currently at hand.

"You should have stopped them!" the replica shouted as he proceeded to give an onslaught of multiple quick attacks.

Saix dodged as quickly as he could, trying to keep his eyes on the replica to see where he would strike next. "I already said I wish I could have. But if we take this into perspective, I believe that you are better off having some form of memories than nothing at all."

"But they are all FAKE! I thought I was Riku. I thought Namine was my childhood friend, but it's not real! None of it is!"

The replica formed darkness in his hand and struck it out towards Saix. A simple darkness attack. It wasn't something unexpected and Saix took note of that as he used his claymore to defend himself from the attack.

When he lowered his guard he analyzed the replica once more. There was still a clear sign of hurt, and it was prominent than before. Saix saw that he would have to be more careful of his words. One simple thing could open a new fresh wound in the replica's mind. He was struggling and comparing who he was before was not going to help.

"There has to be some way… how can I convince him to listen?"

While Saix tried to think of what he would say, he continued to defensively fight the replica. He had no intent to try and hurt the boy, so he refused to use any offensive attacks. But that proved to make things difficult. With not wanting to attack, the replica kept giving it all he had. More and more attacks. He moved faster and tried to actually land a hit, whether it was by his weapon or a magic attack. But Saix still showed he was the stronger of the two, and that only bothered him more.

The attacks began more spastic. More repetition in how he attacks and where. And yet he still was blocked or missed Saix each time. Now the replica could truly feel the annoyance in him. He huffed heavily as he charged at Saix, performing a combo of moves. All of them failed to hit Saix anywhere on his body.

The replica yelled in frustration. "AH! Why don't you do anything! You're really ticking me off now!"

Saix choose to stay quiet as the replica came to attack once more. He started to see a way to get through this. He had tried to talk things out sensibly with the replica, but it only backfired and led to him growing angry. And the angrier he got… the less strategic his moves got. He started to become sloppy when trying to attack faster. And that used more energy without him realizing it.

Saix could see that the replica was starting to lose strength in his fight. He had pushed too much into the beginning of the fight and now he wasn't able to keep a steady pace. Even with Saix only blocking the attacks, it still was wearing the replica out to keep trying.

Eventually the replica stumbled back and dropped to his knees. His sword fell to the ground next to him as he began to pant heavily. He lowered his head, too ashamed at himself for not being able to do anything worthwhile in the battle.

Now that the replica was done fighting Saix put away his weapon and slowly approached. "I take it you're finished now? I hope maybe that proved a helpful way to vent out your frustration."

Slightly lifting his head, the replica stared at Saix. He still breathed heavily, but he managed to speak. "What? You mean you let me attack you? That's why you weren't fighting back?"

Saix gave a slight nod. "You're correct. I wanted to talk to you, but you were not thinking sensibly. With anger and hurt filling your mind, you couldn't listen clearly."

"And what makes you think I'm going to listen to you now?" the replica asked.

From his tone, it was obvious that he was annoyed. He still didn't want to think about what he had learned. But he wouldn't be able to avoid it forever. Especially with Saix wanting to get through to him about it.

Before Saix answered he raised his hand and cast a medium level cure spell over the replica. When he felt his soreness and tiredness fade he stood up. He found Saix's choice baffling. "Why did you heal me? I can just attack you again you know."

"But I know you won't," Saix replied, keeping a deadpan expression over his face.

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?"

The replica picked up his sword and stepped into a fighting position. Saix on the other hand remained calm. He didn't even summon his weapon back. He kept his eyes locked on the replica and waited.

"Well? Go ahead."

The replica breathed in and out. He waiting for Saix to move, to summon his weapon, to do anything else. He wanted to do it. He wanted to attack Saix. He wanted to make Saix pay for not doing anything before. If what Saix said was true, it annoyed him that he didn't try to help. If he just stood there though he claims to have wished to help, why didn't he do it sooner?

The replica readied his weapon, preparing to charge in for another strike. But he found his body not wanting to move. He saw Saix stand there, not moving an inch. He stayed there and kept a calm expression. It was as if he wasn't phased by the threat.

Though… he did say that he wished he could have helped. Was he really meaning it? Or was it all lies to get him to agree? Did Saix have some other goal? He didn't seem to have any ill intentions or malicious behavior like the other members had. There were too many questions for the replica to answer. He couldn't even answer them if he wanted. There was no way of knowing without asking the man directly.

The replica sighed as he dropped his arms to his side. Saix was right… he couldn't attack. He may have been angry for Saix not doing anything, and everything to do with his memories, but he didn't have it in him to attack.

He was still angry over the fact that he wasn't the real Riku. but those memories and feelings that came from Riku were still with him. And that meant that he wasn't going to go and attack someone unfairly. Even if he was majorly ticked off at home, the replica now couldn't find it in himself to try and fight again. Maybe it was weakness. A weakness from Riku… the replica wasn't sure. He wasn't too sure of anything anymore.

The replica sighed. He lowered his head and stared at the ground. Saix moved a little closer. He hoped to talk with the replica in a calm and normal manner was going much smoother than he had thought. But it still came down to what he said next. He had to help the replica understand. He wasn't going to leave him on his own, not with the negative thoughts that clouded his mind.

"Are you ready to talk?" Saix asked, his voice quieter than normal.

"What is there even to talk about? You already said you were sorry, what else is there?"

"There is the part that is wanting to help you. You cannot just wander this castle for the rest of your life," Saix replied, glad that the replica no longer seemed hostile.

"And what exactly did you want to help me with?" The replica raised his head to make eye contact with Saix. There was still some anger in his eyes, but it was faint and not the prominent emotion.

Saix waited as he thought over what to say. There were many ways the conversation could go. And how words were said could change all of it. Saix breathed out a long breath before he gave the answer he had.

"Helping you find your way."

"I don't need any help!"

The wrong choice of words had been said. But thankfully they were not enough to make the replica act out any further. He stayed where he was, though Saix was sure he would storm off at this point.

"Maybe I am getting somewhere with this," Saix thought to himself. "He still seems to be struggling with this. I need to think about how to phrase this."

Saix cleared his throat once he thought that he had the right idea of what to say. "You do need someone to talk to, yes? Now with the knowledge you have, you are dealing with a sort of identity crisis. And it now proves difficult for you to think about your choices and thoughts."

Any remaining anger that was left in the replica's face faded. Now it was only the other emotion; sadness. He pursed his lips together, trying to keep a straight face. But the corners of his lips winced slightly. He couldn't hold a composed look for long.

"You don't understand what it is like… To think you are someone, but then discover that you aren't them. You're just a fake… a copy of them. All the memories you have are fake. None of it is real. You have no idea how much it hurts. To know all of your feelings and memories are fabricated."

The replica clutched his chest, the loneliness mixing into his already strong sadness. He wished he could be strong like he was before. He wanted to keep on moving, but he hated what he was. He hated he was only a fake. He would never be as good as the real Riku.

"Everything I have is only borrowed, which leaves me nothing but emptiness. I want to be more, but I can't ever be anything, only a shadow. A totally worthless and pointless shadow… That's what I am."

Saix could see how the emotions were tolling on the poor replica. Whatever he was feeling on the inside clearly wasn't going well. Now things were becoming much more critical. Saix tried to think much more carefully about what he was going to say, but it was proving difficult.

It was true that he didn't understand what the replica was feeling. He had no idea what it was like to learn that your entire existence was created by someone else. But he was not ready to give up. From when he first saw the replica, he knew that what he was seeing was more than just a copy from someone. Vexen had said that the replica had the data of Riku and therefore looking and acted just like him. It was all data and science. But that wasn't how Saix saw it.

He suddenly had the words he knew he had to say. "You're wrong. You aren't those things. Whether or not you had memories that were created, they still are memories. And you can choose to think on them however you want. You may think that you are only a replica of Riku, but I see that you are more than that. From the start, before your past was written and created, you acted different. And now after you've relearned the truth about yourself, you still act differently."

"And by different… you mean?" the replica asked in a soft voice.

"You are different than whom you claim to be a worthless replica of."

The facade holding the replica's face was slipping even further. Saix could now see tears forming within the replicas eyes. It was an emotion that Saix hadn't even given thought to in years. Sadness and then crying. A thing only someone could do whom had a heart, even if it was created.

"B-But my memories… they're just-" the replica started to speak, but Saix wasn't going to let him finish. If he wanted to make his point, he had to speak first.

"They are yours and only yours. No one else has those memories, and by my standards I'd say that is rather unique. You can complain all you want that you are a fake version of Riku, but Riku doesn't have the memories you have. He doesn't have your experiences. And he doesn't have the thoughts and feelings that you are having either. And even if you still hate that fact, you can still make whatever choices you want and that is what defines you. Not your appearance or anything else on that matter."

Tears streaked down the replica's face. He tried to cover his emotions with his hands over his face, but Saix had already seen it. He had seen how broken the replica felt. But now he wasn't sure what the replica was thinking. Was he upset at everything still, and couldn't hold it in? Or did he understand Saix's point and just felt overwhelmed by the statements?

Saix had been without emotions for so long he could no longer tell. All he could see was that the replica was upset. And now he was in a much tougher situation before. He knew how to handle a situation with words, but not really with actions. He had never been great in his former life at being compassionate. He could say things that he thought would better help someone, but anything else was too far out of his field.

Thankfully he didn't have time to think too hard on it. Much to his surprise, the replica moved forward towards him. The replica leaned forward and grabbed onto Saix and continued to cry.

Saix stared, baffled and confused by the action of the replica. He still wasn't too sure what he was supposed to do. Aside from being better with words, he also never had been the most friendly with others. But as he thought about it, an old memory came back to his mind.

Something he hadn't thought about for years.

Lea use to cry.

Years before they joined the Organization Lea always wore his emotions on his sleeve. There were countless times where Saix remembered staying by his side to comfort him. Even when they first joined the Organization Lea, then Axel, cried. Though then it was only memories of the emotion, but Saix still comforted his friend as best as he could.

He did it for as long as he could until he had discovered a way to stop it all together. A way to keep Axel from crying as much as he did. A sort of magic charm that were the reverse-tear drops that now forever stayed on Axel's face. From the moment those were on Axel's face, he stopped crying, but it was also around the time when he was made second in command. But that was a different story. That was not prevalent right now.

Instead, what was important was that Saix remembered how he used to comfort Lea. With having that back in his mind, Saix placed one hand on the replica's… no… the young boy's head, and the other around his back. "It's okay," Saix said, remembering the words he used to speak to Lea. "Take as much time as you need. No reason to keep it all pent up."

The boy didn't give a proper response back, only a mix of sobs and mumbles. It still wasn't entirely clear what had caused the crying, but Saix had a feeling that it wasn't a bad thing. He figured that it was just the right moment and right choice of words that brought out the inner emotions. If that was the case, he may have gotten through to him. All Saix had to do now was wait for the boy to calm down. And he would wait for it, as long as he could help, he would do it.

He smiled slightly as he stood there. "I can't believe I had almost forgotten about Lea crying. Has it really been that long? So much has changed since then… No matter, I know what I need to do now. And besides… it's nice to be able to do this again. To be there for someone and comfort them… as a friend. How nice this is indeed."

THIS is the chapter I have been waiting for! Since Saix in this story is not as coldhearted and cruel, I feel he always has had a secret soft since all the way from when he was Isa. And since Repliku is one of my favorite characters, I thought I could spice things up with this. I rambled so much in this, but I hope you guys like the longer chapter!