18.

Demyx Alone

Demyx woke suddenly to Amalia's crying. He groaned and turned over. "Your turn," he mumbled to Ienzo, but when he didn't feel weight shift on the mattress, he just sighed and sat up. Ienzo wasn't in bed; he probably had just gone to the bathroom or something. Amalia kept screaming, high, strange keening. "I'm coming, baby," he said. "Let daddy wake up first." He forced himself to his feet and crossed over to the bassinet. He picked her up and checked her diaper-clean. She was hungry. He hefted her into his arms. Her cries quieted, but didn't cease. "I know, I know." He went upstairs, groggily. It wasn't like Ienzo to take so long. He always preferred feeding the baby fresh milk if possible. Whatever. Demyx warmed a bottle, coaxed it into his daughter's mouth, and tried not to nod off as she fed.

Something smelled like smoke. He rubbed his eyes and crossed over to the toaster, because it was Even's favorite thing to burn bread. But it was clean, or at least, empty. Demyx wandered around the kitchen, sniffing. The smell seemed to be coming from outside. He burped Amalia and let her keep eating.

He realized the bathroom door was open. No Ienzo. Had he gone upstairs? But why?

Something was wrong.

Demyx took a deep breath. He set Amalia's empty bottle in the sink and held her a little more tightly against him. "Ienzo?" he called, bracing himself for Even to yell at him for waking them all up. But it was just silent. "Ienzo?" He took a few steps outside. The grass, well-kept by Aeleus, was smoothed down by the front walk, but the smell of smoke intensified here.

Not smoke. Darkness.

Heartless? But how could Heartless break through their wards? Demyx sighed heavily. "Every day's a new surprise," he muttered, and Amalia snuffled as if in reply. He crossed back inside, grabbed some shoes and Amalia's baby sling, and tied her to him. If the wards had been compromised, best to have her near him. "Where did your daddy go?"

He walked past the property line, but the smell of darkness faded. "Zo?" he called again. "This isn't funny."

An unnatural silence. A spike of adrenaline shot through him. He ran back into the yard. "Aeleus? Dilan? Where are you guys?"

He didn't see them. He didn't feel them. Demyx dashed back into the house, into Even's study, which at first glance was empty.

Then he saw the blood, barely visible against the dark floor. His breath caught. "No, no, please, no." Fear made him quake. He took a few small steps along the trail of blood, holding Amalia so tightly she had begun to protest. He forced himself to loosen his grip.

Even was unconscious under the desk, where he'd been evidently dragged, bleeding from his side. Demyx covered his own mouth to keep from screaming. With a shaking hand, he reached down to feel at Even's pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when he was alive. As gently as he could, he dragged him out from under the desk and shoved the chair cushion under his head. "Even? Can you hear me?"

He groaned weakly. Demyx tugged up his shirt, to get a better look at the wound. In his magic training, Ienzo had taught him the basics of healing. He held his hand over the wound. It was no more than a graze, but his head had been hit hard. Demyx dug in their medical supplies until he found the potion and tipped it into his half-open mouth.

This brought him around at last. He coughed. "You alright?" Demyx asked.

Even blinked. He clutched at his head. Demyx helped him sit up. It took him a moment to fully gain awareness, but then he gasped. "No."

"What happened?"

Even shot to his feet, wavering dizzily, but before Demyx could stop him he'd darted outside. Apprehension tightened into a pit in his stomach, and Amalia began to cry again. Slowly, Demyx followed, and found Even on his knees by the smoothed grass, probing it with his hands. "Even?" Demyx asked. "What happened?"

He didn't respond. He just punched the dirt, his long hair falling into his face. He was trembling.

"What's going on?" Demyx asked again.

"He's…" He swallowed audibly. "He's gone."

It felt like being strangled. "Who?"

"Ienzo. I can't feel him. But his scent, it's all over this dirt-" Panic had flooded Even's voice. "With darkness , with- nothing." He looked up. "Someone got through… with nothing ."

"I… I don't understand."

"Nothing, boy, nothing! The type of matter! We'd protected against darkness, but not… nothing ." The horror made him look older than he was, and he punched the ground again.

"How do you know he's gone?" Demyx asked shakily. Amalia was crying louder now, intense, shrill cries Demyx had never heard from her before tonight. He tried to shush her.

Even bobbed his head towards the baby. "She wouldn't cry like that if he were in the area. She can sense him."

"What if he just… went…" Demyx didn't believe what he was saying, but the alternative was falling into a complete panic. "To fight Heartless… he's going to come back."

Even just looked at him wearily. "We need the dog," he muttered.

Moments later, the glowing white wolf was at the gate, and before Demyx's eyes he shifted into a man. Isa. "When did you notice?" he asked.

"I'd… gotten up to feed the baby," Demyx said. "That must've been about two-" Amalia was still crying, cries that hurt him to hear. Even was darting all over the yard, looking for Aeleus and Dilan.

"...She wouldn't be crying like that if he's near."

"That's what Even said."

Isa took a few steps toward the baby; Demyx flinched. "I need to smell her," he told him. "I can track Ienzo's scent that way."

"Do you know what nothing is?" Demyx asked.

Isa's face turned paler in the porch light. "Oh," he said softly.

"What?"

He sniffed. "Yes, I… I smell it. I know what happened. Xehanort's family… they were experimenting with nothing, its entropy... they used it to break through your protection."

"So they took him?"

"I hope ."

"Why would you hope ?"

His eyes were drawn. "Better than the alternative. I…" He exhaled, then smelled at the baby. "I'll scout as far as I can." His form melted back into the wolf's and disappeared along the horizon.

Demyx's knees were weak. He wobbled over to the front steps before they could give out on him. He tried to soothe Amalia, but nothing he said or sang seemed to help. So he had no choice but to let her cry.

Demyx felt numb.

He didn't know what to do other than try to comfort Amalia, as vain as that was. She barely stopped crying other than to eat, though he noticed over time that the cries became quieter, until finally she exhausted herself into a stupor. He was not going to allow himself to panic until he knew what Isa had to say.

It grew lighter out. Aeleus and Dilan and similarly been wounded, and Even tended to them wearily. He and Demyx drank too much coffee. Demyx tried to force himself to have breakfast, but he just ended up throwing it back up. Like their daughter, he could feel with a certainty that Ienzo was gone .

Isa reappeared shortly before dusk, his blue hair glowing in the fading light. Demyx held his breath. "No trace of his scent within my range, nor of the nothing," he said softly. "They must've… teleported somehow. I'm sorry."

"Where could they have taken him?" Even asked.

" If he's alive," Dilan said.

"He's alive," Even said, too quickly.

"I would assume they'd take him back to Hollow Bastion-what was once Radiant Garden," he explained. "But going there would be essentially fatal. At least, for you."

There was a pronounced silence.

"...Unless…" Isa murmured. "Unless I were to… offer myself back up."

"I thought you'd poisoned that well," Dilan muttered.

"Perhaps if I explain I owe Ienzo, he would devise a way to use that to his advantage. If I can get close … I can get him out. I understand you… don't fully trust me. But what other options do you have?"

"What indeed?" Even said, his voice hollow. He stood up and brushed off his pants; he was still wearing his bloody shirt. "Either way… we know what we must do."

"What?" Demyx asked.

Woodenly, he turned towards him. "It's no longer safe here," he said. "We must operate under the assumption that Amalia is the last remaining heir to the throne. Her safety must be our priority."

"But he's not-"

"We must assume he is," Even said sharply, though not without pain. "Aeleus, give the resistance a status update. Dilan, you remain here and work things out with the dog. Demyx… we need to get you and the baby ready."

"For what?"

"For us to run."

In a haze, Demyx packed. Over the past ten months this place had become his home. He didn't know what was important. So he focused on his daughter, but even then. What about her favorite books, did he bring those? The blanket Kairi had made for her? There was only a suitcase between them, not even a particularly large one. Even said their things could be arranged for later, but he had no idea if that would actually happen. So Demyx took whatever would make the baby most comfortable and shoved a few changes of clothes for himself in the crevices. Put some photos into his backpack. He knew there was not enough room for the sitar, but he couldn't stop himself from running his fingers over the varnish anyway.

He was digging for Amalia's scale cream when he saw it, lying on top of the dresser-Ienzo's pendant. He never wore it when he was asleep, claiming he felt choked. It still felt warm.

He broke then, pain and fear and a heartbreak he didn't know possible washing in all at once; he fell to his knees, unable to bear up against it. He remembered something he and Riku had read in the mayor's library, about his kind , what happened when they lost what they had found-

Seekers consider their mates and their offspring priorities, because they are also vital to their mental stability. Those who lose mates often follow soonafter, either through their own hand or a sheer lack of will to live, resulting in what has been dubbed "soul sickness."

But Ienzo wasn't dead.

Amalia, on the bed, was again squalling. Demyx nearly had to crawl to get over to her. He drew her into his arms and couldn't help but sob for a moment.

"Get it together, yes? We can react later." Even, if possible, seemed even more hollow than before. "Your daughter needs you and I need you not to be a sniveling mess."

Demyx wiped at his eyes. The man was holding, of all things, a set of clippers. "What's that for?"

"Your hair," Even said. "I'm afraid the style is rather distinct and must be made unrecognizable." He offered them towards Demyx. "I'll leave what you do up to you, but it must be ordinary. You understand? Otherwise I'll shave you bald myself."

"A disguise?"

"Of sorts. I'll watch the baby. Now go . We don't have all night."

Numbly, Demyx complied. For a long time in the bathroom he stared at the fine blades. Tremblingly, he turned it on. It took a long moment before he could find the nerve to run the clippers along the back of his head, tufts of blonde mullet falling in shivering piles onto the floor. He shaved it down so the lengths matched the sides of his head, strangely dark compared to the normal shade of his hair. Hazily, he swept up the hair, threw it away, showered off the little bits, the remains of the gel. The hair that remained flopped over the side of his head, into his eyes. He hoped this was unrecognizable enough. Easier to mourn his hairstyle than anything else.

Even appraised him warily once he returned. "I suppose that is an improvement," he said dryly. He handed Demyx a pair of glasses. "Put these on."

The lenses had no prescription.

Even took a step back. "Good enough. Get dressed. We'd better leave sooner rather than later."

"What about the milk?"

"We're taking it too. I've got that handled. Make sure the baby wears a hat." He was already walking away.

Amalia cried again when she saw him, his silhouette changed confusingly enough for her weak newborn eyesight, but once she was in Demyx's arms and could smell him she calmed. "I know, baby," he said softly. He kissed her cheek. "I know. I know."

Demyx slipped Ienzo's pendant into his pocket. He took one last look around their room-the place where their daughter had been born-and left.

"Give me your phone," Even said.

"Don't crush it," Demyx said. "Please-I have pictures of her on it-"

"I'm not crushing it." He took off the case and pried open the back uncomfortably quickly. In front of Demyx's eyes, he pulled out a small chip from it. "Need to disable the GPS and your SIM card."

"But what if-"

"What?"

"Someone… needs to reach me?"

Even gave him a droll look. "Which is more important, silly friends or your daughter?"

"Well, her, of course, but-"

Even cracked the SIM card in half. "If you truly need to pass along a message, you can use the resistance network."

"...How many times have you done this?"

Even was tapping something into the device now. "What?" he asked flatly.

"Just up and ran."

Even looked up, his green eyes so empty. "You know… I don't actually recall."

"That should be everything," Aeleus said in the same numb tone. "Dilan's putting the other set of plates on the car, and then he'll help us leave the city."

"Good."

"What about… Isa?" Demyx asked.

"He'll meet back up with us at the new location," Aeleus said. "I'll be waiting." He left.

After changing the baby one last time, Demyx strapped her into the car seat. Even just exhaled heavily. "This was supposed to have been different," he murmured, and got into the car.

Demyx sat in the back with the baby. Even with small magical enhancements, things were cramped. He was handed two passports. "This is the name you'll use in public," Even said. "Hers too."

"...When did you make these?"

"As soon as I was able to get a good enough photo of the baby," Even told him.

"Even always has multiple contingency plans in place," Aeleus said.

Demyx's hair had been edited to look ordinary . The passport dubbed him Emyd, and the baby, Ava. They were from "Traverse Town? Never heard of it."

"Yes," Even said. "Exactly. Now keep the baby quiet and let me work."

Amalia, exhausted from all her crying, slept heavily, and despite himself, Demyx did too. He'd taken intro to psychology for one of his gen eds, and one of the things he remembered was that, in times of extreme stress or trauma, some people… simply fell asleep. He was woken gently by Aeleus an unknown amount of time later, handed a bottle of Ienzo's milk which had been warmed with a spell. "I'm not sure if the baby gets carsick, but best feed her while we're still."

Demyx complied. Amalia just blinked, but took it without complaint. "I know, you miss daddy's booby," he murmured. "Hopefully we'll see him soon."

They just drove. The night seemed to get deeper, the stars, brighter. Demyx drifted in and out of sleep, uncertainly. Finally, they crossed the threshold of a city without border control, a city with bright neon lights and old cobble roads and buildings that looked worse for wear. They ended up parking in front of an old motel complex that had been turned into apartments, its sign flickering. Some of the cars in the lot were rusty, old. Even took a key out of a manila envelope and unlocked the door.

The place clearly hadn't been seen in a long time. It smelled musty and stale. Demyx could see where rooms had been clumsily added, and the furniture-Mid-Century modern and wrought-iron beds- was covered in old sheets. Even began warding the doorway, and Aeleus took in their few things.

It was a two bedroom apartment, railroad-style, the orange streetlight shining straight into the farther bedroom. Demyx pulled the dusty curtains shut; Amalia sneezed gently. He took the cooler which contained bags of Ienzo's milk and loaded them into the old freezer, which smelled like tuna fish. His hands trembled as he did so.

Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.

He also knew Ienzo would fight tooth and nail if he were physically able to. But what if he-

Demyx felt Aeleus's large hand pat his shoulder once. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to; his sad blue eyes said it all. "There are clean linens in the vacuum sealed bags in the closet," he said instead. "I'm sure you must be exhausted."

"What about you? You were driving all night."

He shrugged. "I'm used to it. We can clean tomorrow."

Like Twilight Town's perpetual sunset, Traverse Town had perpetual night, strange heavy wards which kind of worked. Being nightlocked did strange things to Demyx's body, making him constantly groggy. He'd always been a morning person. Isa kept searching for Ienzo, but any leads he had ran cold; Even's lie-detecting magic showed the man was being truthful.

Honestly? Considering that before someone had been able to break through their wards, Demyx felt much more at ease knowing he was around. Not that he'd ever admit it. He accompanied Demyx and Amalia on their daily walks, though they didn't talk much. Between Even's stressed silence, Aeleus's natural propensity not to speak much, and Demyx's ambivalence towards Isa, he found himself talking more and more to the baby, especially as his hope began to dwindle.

They'd gone out grocery shopping. The people in Traverse Town were more haggard than Twilight Town, always looking over their shoulders. "Everyone's so tense," Demyx murmured, wiping a drop of drool from Amalia's face.

"This is a place of refugees," Isa said to him. He was tossing an apple restlessly from one hand to the other. "I grew up here."

"You did? You never mentioned that."

"You never asked," he said levelly. "You don't hesitate to hide your disdain. Why should I volunteer anything?"

Demyx sighed. "I don't… hate you. It's just that Ienzo… told me so many stories."

"I regret it deeply," Isa murmured. "You have to understand. It was like… I was in my body, but I was not the one controlling it. The darkness drowned out all reason."

"So how did you learn to fight it?"

"It took a long time. I forced myself to… really look at my actions, to… remember who I was once, before all this. What I used to be capable of. My… best friend." A dark chuckle. "I wonder where he is now. What he's up to."

"What was his name?"

Isa canted his head a little. "Lea."

Demyx snorted in disbelief. "As in L-e-a, not L-e-e?"

"Yes?"

"Isa, we went to college together. At Twilight Town University. He was in my graduating class. He studied theater."

Isa smiled, the first genuine one on him Demyx had ever seen. "Of course he did," he murmured. "Small world."

"I'd give you his number-but Even would probably kill me."

"I don't deserve to see him. Not yet. I… have a lot to atone for."

They walked in silence for a moment. "Why'd you do it?" Demyx asked. "Join him?"

Isa considered. He folded his hands behind his back. "To say I came from a bad home is putting it mildly," he admitted at last. "My mother died young, my father turned to hard drugs. The usual sordid tale." An eye roll. "And once I hit puberty, all bets were off. Every full moon, I would involuntarily transform into a monster, a form I could not control. As the situation… devolved, I so happened to run into "Ansem." I had no idea what this mess signified." He touched a strand of his hair. "He offered me a chance to learn to control myself, a place where I could live safely. How was I to know that was wrong? But, Demyx, all this suffering. All this death. What's it for? We deserve… better." He looked at Amalia. "Especially her."

"Yeah. We do."

The days passed, one after another, almost endlessly. Amalia began outgrowing all of her clothing, began smiling, laughing. It just made Demyx's heart break all the more to know Ienzo wasn't there to see it. So he took photos and videos.

Too soon, they ran out of breastmilk. Demyx bought formula, tried to get Amalia to drink it, but she just pushed the bottle away, or spit it right back in his face. He let it go for a feeding or two, figuring if she got hungry enough she'd drink it anyway, but he began having to actively wrestle the bottle into her mouth. "Come on," he murmured. " Eat, please." He went out and bought another kind of formula, but she wouldn't eat that either. Was it too warm? Too cool? Not concentrated enough, too strong? Maybe it was making her nauseous? He should've mixed the last bag of milk with the formula. He gave her some flat ginger ale, and she drank that all down. But she wouldn't. Eat.

He could barely sleep that night. She wasn't crying, but she seemed more lethargic than usual. Was she really sick? She had no fever, but she was clammy. He tried giving her a bath, some tummy time, as though the stimulation would give her appetite back. But she kept refusing the formula. She drank the juice he gave her, so she was getting some calories, but something had to give.

The evening of the second day, he was exhausted, anxious, and near tears. Even came back into the apartment and raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter with you ?" he asked.

The tears overflowed. "She's not eating," Demyx said. "I tried three different kinds of formula-but she just won't-she spat it up on me, look at my shirt. It's been almost two days, Even, I don't know what's wrong with her, if she's sick, she's going to starve ."

Even's harsh gaze softened. "Ah," he said softly. "I know what's wrong."

"I'm a shitty dad."

"No, you aren't." He went over to the kitchen, opened the cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of honey, of all things. He added a spoonful to the bottle Amalia had rejected, heated it back up, shook it well, and presented it to Demyx. "Try this."

He did. Amalia began chugging it down so quickly Demyx had trouble getting her to stop long enough to burp. "What-"

Even sat across from him at the table. "Ienzo's mother had the same problem when she was weaning him," he said, his eyes hazy with memory. "Royal milk, for whatever reason, is incredibly sweet. Some kind of compound that's good for the magic. As well-intentioned as you were, I'm sure to her you might as well have been feeding her lemon juice. Just add some honey to the formula, and begin lessening the amount over the next few days. She'll be right as rain."

"Oh," he said, sniffling. He remembered the last time he'd made love to Ienzo, when he'd accidentally tasted it. The tears still were running down his face, salty. "Even, I don't know if I can do this."

"You can because you have to," Even said firmly. "It hurts. I know it must hurt more than you can bear. It hurts me, too. I raised him, Demyx, he's my son. But Amalia needs you. You can't fall apart. She can't lose both of you. Understand?"

He nodded. Even handed him a napkin, and he mopped at his eyes.

"You look exhausted," Even said, a bit more gently. "I'll watch Amalia, if you want to get some sleep. And you should shower. You smell like spit-up." He crossed over and took her into his arms. "We've gotten through worse."

How , Demyx nearly asked, but then he remembered that Even had once been Radiant Garden's surgeon general and head researcher, working under his dear friend Ansem, along with all of his friends . He wondered how much of Even's harshness came out of a desire to push others away before he lost them, too. "Thanks," he said.

Even kissed the baby's head. "She is my granddaughter."

Time began to pass. Isa often left on long excursions to search for Ienzo, but it got to the point where each and every time he came back with no new information, and Demyx tried to stop letting himself hope.

Every few weeks, they would move to a different safe house. They stayed in hotels, trailers, empty apartments, old houses. One week they camped inside an old mansion, and Amalia fell asleep to the sound of raindrops pattering on their tent.

The countrysides were safer, but the cities had resistance contacts, who were doing their own part to try and find Ienzo. Luxord the bartender had gotten into contact with Xehanort's forces, but of course they wouldn't tell him anything. "I'll keep trying to climb the ladder," he said, over a hazy phone call. "But no more than whispers ever reach the bottom rungs."

Demyx missed his friends. He missed Riku's dry insults and Yuffie's obnoxious brashness, Lea's terrible jokes, Roxas's worst moods. He missed Sora, Riku, and Kairi's gross flirting.

More than all he missed Ienzo. It was a longing so intense it was almost a physical ache , and sometimes he couldn't help but break down whenever he had a moment to himself. He took to wearing the second pendant as well. It still glowed faintly. He hoped that meant Ienzo was still alive.

Amalia grew. Before long she was able to support her own neck, roll over. She discovered she could see herself in mirrors and would stare for hours, though Even insisted she could not yet recognize it as herself. She began making small vocal noises, and her hair got longer. She played with her hands and feet. When she was two months old she caught her first cold, and while Even said it was mild, Demyx didn't sleep for the better part of three days. Her smile could light up the room; she could coax one even out of Isa.

Demyx realized, as time passed, that Isa had become his friend, had become trusted. He had no issues leaving Amalia with him for short periods of time, except during the full moon when he was still locked into wolf form. The baby found this amusing, crawling all over him, tugging at his tail, but Isa would do no more than sigh heavily and flick the tail around for her to play with.

Amalia began manifesting small signs of magic. Once, she sneezed on Demyx and gave him freckles that lasted nearly a week. Even was giving her a bath and discovered her laughter could make the water move (he told Demyx this sopping wet, unhappy). Aeleus took her for a walk and found to his horror she had worked her way out of the papoose and was floating steadily upwards. It became habit to tie her down with a thin silk cord whenever they went outside.

Winter came. It got colder. Demyx missed Ienzo.

Isa was able to teach him a spell to put his sitar into a sort of pocket dimension after it finally arrived, so he could take it with him everywhere. Demyx was so grateful that he hugged him; the gesture surprised them both. Those days were so full of music that Even eventually had to snap at him to quiet down so he could get some research done. Amalia loved every minute, making tiny humming noises.

They were staying in a house on the northern coast when they heard the knock. These moments never became less tense, even though they were usually just housekeepers, or door-to-door salespeople, or, even more rarely, a member of the resistance. Demyx looked through the peephole and saw a man with an eyepatch-and a gold eye. He covered Amalia's mouth to keep her from making noise. "What?" Isa mouthed. Demyx bobbed his head towards the door. He just sighed heavily and approached. Then, "Xigbar?"

"Come on," he said. "I just wanna talk."

Demyx grabbed a hat out of the diaper bag and pulled it hurriedly onto her head. He began backing towards the door, slowly. Even came down the stairs in his usual distracted huff, but then, "Braig?"

"You know him?" Isa asked.

"Even. Long time no see." A wicked smile.

Even hesitated.

"I just wanna talk," the man reasserted. "Aw, who's the little cutie?"

Demyx held the baby more tightly.

"My nephew and his daughter," Even lied smoothly. "We're staying with him for the moment."

The man-Braig? Xigbar?-sighed. "Bullshit. Why on earth is Saïx with you? Come on, Ev. We're old friends. I come in peace, okay?"

Slowly, Even opened the door. "Xigbar," Even said slowly. "Sold your soul to a demon, then?"

"It's complicated." He sauntered over to the kitchen table and sat without being invited.

"How complicated could it possibly be?"

Isa crossed back over to Demyx and the baby.

"I got clout with the old man," Xigbar said. He picked up an orange from the fruit bowl on the table and twirled it idly. "Earned his trust for twelve years. Worked my way up."

Panic began to overtake Demyx in earnest. Had they been found out? How?

"But I'm playing a bigger game, Even. I don't give a shit about the darkness. So for him to win… well. We'd all be dead, and what then? Nothing can rise from the ashes if there's nothing left." A sigh. "Long and short way of saying I know where your boy is."

The words left Demyx without his permission, his soul crying out. "He's alive?"

A chuckle. "Boy, is he," Xigbar said smoothly. "Speaking of games… not sure what that one is trying to pull… or if he's really brainwashed… or if he submitted just for the sake of… that ." He gestured to the baby.

Even had turned red. "How'd you-"

Xigbar just looked tired. "Like I said. I hear things."

"What did he do?" Even asked.

"He's helping the old man. Last I heard he's been going by Zexion."

Even staggered as though he'd been punched. "But-how-why-"

A shrug. "The son named Ansem has done all sorts of crazy experiments on people. Loves to torture. But you'd know that, wouldn't you?" He locked eyes with Isa. "Listen, I wouldn't put it past the princeling to be running some kind of gambit of his own."

Even frowned. "So why tell us all this? What does it accomplish?"

"Because if you need a way in, I'm it," Xigbar said, as though it were obvious. "I'm tired of playing along. Maybe it's time to change the game."

Even's face went blank for a moment. Then, slowly, "how soon can you get us there?"

Demyx hadn't thought that it would be winter when he first took his daughter to the sea. Too cold for her to touch. Even bundled in layers, it was hard to keep her adequately shielded from the wind. "This is where you and me come from," he whispered to her, and she cooed. "In the summer we'll see if you're a little fishy after all."

She looked out at it, contemplatively.

"Her safety, and yours, remains the priority," Aeleus said gently. "That is to say… not to get your hopes up."

"In case Ienzo is a brainwashed zombie?" Demyx said dully.

He rested a palm on his shoulder. Amalia reached one tiny palm towards him; he took it. "Have faith in him," Aeleus said. "But… yes. It is… possible."

"I'd hoped he was alive, but I…"

"I know," he said. "I cannot stress this enough-your duty is not to fight for Ienzo. Your duty is to care for Amalia. Especially as we go into-"

"Enemy territory?" Demyx took a deep breath. It tasted like salt. "Why have me go with you, then?"

"You're safer with us than on your own."

He had a point. He looked back out at the ocean. "Excited to go home?" he asked dryly.

"It hasn't been home for a long time." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Come. We have to catch the ferry."

Demyx followed Aeleus back up to the dock. Radiant Garden was a city on the water. His own seeker magic was thankfully strong enough to shield Amalia's, but Isa and Even were forced to find their own way over. No friendly border control guards here.

"We're to meet someone here," Aeleus said, taking him aside at the ticket booth. "Though I've no idea who."

They waited as the next two ferries came and went. Amalia, uncomfortable in the cold despite wrappings, squalled a little, and Demyx held her more tightly against his chest. "Did they know we had a baby?" he spat. "She'll get sick."

"...If no one shows in a few minutes, you can wait inside the terminal."

In the early morning fog, Demyx saw a figure emerge with a small suitcase; a tall old man with a thick red scarf draped over his shoulders. His face came into better focus as they both struggled not to react. "...Horrid morning, isn't it," Ansem said pleasantly.

"This is a terrible risk," Aeleus said under his breath. "You mustn't-"

"My city, my people, my son are at risk," he said, equally as low. "It's about time I put my own neck on the line." He turned to Demyx. "Oh." His eyes softened.

"Had anybody told you?" Aeleus asked.

"No," Ansem said. "Is this-"

"Our daughter," Demyx said. "She's six months old."

"Oh," he said again, his eyes watering. "Her… name?"

Demyx mouthed it. "She goes by Ava outside."

"Can I… could I-" He held out his arms. Demyx handed him his granddaughter. She settled down against him like she'd known him her whole life. "My son's a father."

"He was worried you'd be disappointed in him," Demyx murmured. "This wasn't, ah, on purpose."

"...How could I be disappointed in a face like that?"

Amalia looked back up and him and smiled. Demyx reached over to wipe away a streak of drool. "She's getting her first tooth. Chewing on everything."

"Next ferry is leaving soon," Aeleus said. "We should go."

Ansem handed Amalia back to Demyx. "Right. Very well." He pulled his cap lower over his face.

They got on the ferry to what was once Radiant Garden.