People… They were people again. Axel could hardly even believe it… No wait… Lea…. He was Lea…
He glanced at the people that were with him and saw the bigger guy struggle as he groaned, at ones Lea ran over there and grabbed his arm. "Hey there easy." he asked. "Be careful."
The man with short red hair looked up as he narrowed his eyes. "Out of all people, I don't need you to pretend like you care."
Lea blinked.
"No… It's not an act, is it?" A younger voice asked behind him and Lea turned to see a younger man with long grayish blue bangs covering his face. "That's not Axel."
"Zexion." Lea breathed then offered him a hand. "Sorry, your real name is?" he asked.
"I.. Ienzo." The younger man breathed as he accepted the hand allowing Lea to pull him back up on his legs where he stumbled a bit before finding balance.
"You okay?" Lea asked.
"I believe so." Ienzo groaned as he held his head. "All though… things are a bit.." and he stumbled, he would have fallen down if Lea hadn't caught him.
"Yeah I think you need to sit down for a bit mister." Lea commented as he guided Ienzo towards the nearest chair he could see and put the younger man down.
Ienzo groaned as he held his head just as the larger man had managed to stand up.
"What happened?" He asked. "Why are we..?" he asked.
"Aelouse." Ienzo breathed looking at the larger man. "You to."
Lea turned to Aelouse. "You were destroyed by Sora." he recounted. "And so was Xaldin." he glanced at the black haired man still unconscious on the ground. "Vexen… Erhmm." he blushed deeply.
Aelouse lifted an eyebrow.
"Ahem." Lea cleared his throat. "I kind of..." he looked down.
"You were always the one disposing of all the unwanted people." Ienzo commented. "I gather that I had become a problem to."
"Well… erhm.." Lea swallowed looking at the face of the younger man, clearly remembering how he had destroyed him ones… completely destroyed.
Questioning the larger man looked at Ienzo.
"Axel killed my nobody." Ienzo informed very plainly. "I thought I would make it out of the castle, but just when I was about to leave. Axel showed up."
Lea squirmed together, clearly not very comfortable with this talk.
"I see." Aelouse commented. "All who is here were disposed off. How-ever if that is true. Then what is Xemnas private assassin doing here?" He in a stern tone. "Did you finally make a wrong step?"
"Oh boy, you guys have been out of the game for a while." Lea recalled as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Perhaps you would care to fill us in?" Ienzo asked. "Our memories only reach as far as to castle oblivion. Then what happened?"
"That is a tall order!" Lea stated. "A lot, that's what happened." he stated. "Roxas returned to Sora, Sora regained his full self and started a new journey. He proved quite formidable and destroyed quite a few organization members! Allthough the organizations plans also went well as Sora killed thousands of nobodies on his way feeding kingdom hearts, it was very near completion the last time I was around. I know Sora reached as far as to our head quarters in the world in between. How-ever that's when I blinked out. So if he managed to reach Xemnas?" he shrugged. "I got no clue!"
"Did Sora slay you?" Ienzo asked in a frown, clearly trying to piece all of this information together.
"Nope." Lea replied. "In fact I erh… I kind of turned my back on the organization a while back."
That made both other men look shocked at him.
"Yeah… You're looking at a traitor." Lea smiled apologetic. "Funny huh? The reason I was send to castle oblivion was to weed out and destroy any traitors! And now I'm the greatest traitor of all. Funny how the world works like that? Anyway." he cleared his throat. "I wasn't blocking Soras entrance, I was helping him get there. On the way though we were ambushed and that's when I." he snapped a finger. "Gotta tell ya, I was pretty sure I would be gone for good. I didn't expect to just wake up again like this."
Ienzo nodded still looking very thoughtful.
Aelous slowly turned to the two remaining unconscious people on the floor, then sat down on his knees gently touching the black haired mans wrist feeling for a pulse, then he exhaled relieved. How-ever shortly after he frowned. "Why haven't they woken up yet?" he asked.
Ienzo looked up. "This re-completion, it hasn't been easy on any of us. Perhaps though..."
At that Lea stepped forward and bowed down, grabbing the black haired mans arm. "Well big guy." he addressed Aelouse. "We need to get these two to a bed don't we?" he asked. "Can't leave them here."
Aelouse looked at Lea with narrowed eyes.
"I get it, I get it!" Lea exclaimed. "You don't like taking favors from me. How-ever right now, your good buddie needs bed rest right?" he asked. "So just come on."
Finally Aelouse nodded and took the other arm so together they could carry the man… Oh yes Dilan. This was Dilan.
Finally by working together did Lea and Aelouse manage to get Dilan and Even into bed, neither of the men reacted at all as they were moved and as Lea and Aelouse returned Ienzo was tapping away at the computer.
"What are you doing?" Lea asked.
"Accessing the computers at our old head quarters in the world in between." Ienzo informed. "The computer was set to monitor everything that went on there last time I was there, and it seems like it's still functioning."
"So… You can tell what happened?!" Lea asked.
"Yes." Ienzo confirmed.
"Then what happened?!" Lea asked as he ran up to the younger man, only to be faced by a bunch of text on the screen he didn't understand.
"Sora did indeed make it to the castle." Ienzo informed. "Not only Sora, but a whole host of other intruders…. A powerful keyblade wielder named Riku, another powerful keyblade wielder called Mickey and…." he swallowed. "Ansem the wise." he informed making Leas and Aelouse eyes widen. "They were all there collected at one place."
"Master Ansem!" Aelouse gasped as he leaned over. "He… He's alive?! Where is he now?" he asked.
"He vanished." Ienzo informed sadly. "He tried to destroy the kingdom hearts we build, and he vanished…" he shook his head. "It seems Sora met with him only very shortly. He had fought himself all the way to Xemnas."
"Then he must have faced Xigbar, Luxord and Saix to!" Lea exclaimed. "What happened to them… Are they?"
"They were all defeated." Ienzo informed and Lea halted. "Organization thirteen… Was annihilated. Not one single person was left."
"But..." Lea tried. "Our nobodies were defeated right? And we returned to the exact location where we had been turned into nobodies the first time around! Shouldn't Isa be here to then?!" he asked as he turned to the machine.
"And Braig." Aelouse commented.
"Could he have woken before us?" Lea asked as he stepped forward. "Where is he?!"
Aelouse glanced at Lea. "You seem rather concerned about Saix." he commented.
"You two did knew each other before becoming nobodies didn't you?" Ienzo asked.
Lea halted.
"I knew it." Aelouse huffed as he crossed his arms. "Every time something wasn't going Saixs way, his problems would always mysteriously disappear. It was you wasn't it?" he asked. "You made any obstacles he had vanish."
Lea looked at Aelouse then glanced down. "What is the point of denying that now?" he asked. "It doesn't really matter though. I betrayed the organization, he stayed… We became enemies." he sighed. "I guess I had just kind of hoped. If he got his heart back then..." he shook his head. "Njah, trying to make things the way it was. The world doesn't work that way."
"You really stopped being his errand boy?" Aelouse asked.
"Yeah..." Lea nodded though he didn't seem very happy. "It erh... A lot of stuff happened you know. I just couldn't deal with anymore, the organization and stuff. It just wasn't right."
"It does make sense." Ienzo commented as he was still tapping away at the computer. "You gained a greater and greater will of your own as your new heart was growing."
"Wait what?" Lea asked as he looked up.
"The new heart created inside of your nobody." Ienzo informed. "It's true, when our nobodies were first made, they were without a heart. But as time went on, they each seemed to grow a new heart to take the place of the old one."
Lea's eyes were wide, so was Aelouses's.
"Fascinating." Ienzo commented. "It seems… Our old hearts has now merged with our new ones. Become one."
"WHAT?!" Lea shouted. "You're telling me, we had the ability to grew spanking new hearts all along?! By ourselves?! Not only did we have the ability we did do it! We had hearts all along?!"
"Seems like it." Ienzo nodded. "This is new information to me as well." he admitted.
"Hold on, wait! Not only could we just grow a new heart. All we had to do to get our old ones back… Was to let our bodies be destroyed?!" Lea asked. "THEN WHAT ON EARTH DID WE NEED KINGDOM HEARTS FOR?!" he shouted.
Aelouse stood with crossed arms as he thought then he looked up. "It should not be a surprise to us that Xemnas lied to us from the start." he stated. "There is not one single word Xemnas has said we should trust. If we wish to proceed, we must think for ourselves, and search out information by our own means."
Lea blinked as he looked at the otherwise mostly silent man. Then he smirked. "Woah, look at you. Mr big, broody and brutal sounding all smart and stuff."
"Aelouse is a gifted scientist in his own right." Ienzo commented his eyes still fixed on the computer.
"Wait he is?" Lea asked. "You are?" he asked Aelouse directly.
Aelouse didn't even seem to think that question warranted a response as he looked at Ienzo instead.
"It does not seem like Even and Dilan will wake up soon. Could it be because their hearts has been damaged?" he asked the younger scientist directly.
"That is entirely possible." Ienzo replied.
"Hey! Don't just ignore me!" Lea shouted.
"Their bodies seems to be fine, all though being completely destroyed and reassembled could also count as a strain." Aelouse continued. "A strained body needing to process all the information their hearts is giving them. Could that be it?"
"It is a good theory worth following." Ienzo nodded.
"Okay you two are doing that on purpose now aren't you?" Lea asked.
"Should we put their bodies in stasis to give them time to accumulate the information of their old hearts?" Aelouse asked.
"Hmm, in any case putting them in stasis for a short while would probably be the safest until we figure out what is happening to them anyway." Ienzo commented.
"Hallooooo!" Lea shouted. "None scientists standing right here! Could you speak English?" he asked.
And they both turned to him.
"If you want to make yourself useful, then maybe search the castle?" Aelouse asked. "There is one smart thing you said thus far. Yes indeed, if Saix and Xigbar were destroyed. Isa and Braig should be here."
"You're talking to me like I'm an idiot." Lea muttered in a defeated voice.
"Please, we should work together." Ienzo stated. "Yes it's true, in the past we have been adversaries. The Axel we knew was Xemnas's private assassin and Saix's hidden trump card. How-ever that is not true anymore. And now, we are former nobodies. If anyone should be able to sympathies with us, it should be… well… Us." he looked down. "I don't know about you two but.." he swallowed. "The things I did… I… At the time. I didn't care. Now how-ever, I realize how horrible it was."
The two other looked at him, then glanced away in silence.
"I have done things… Terrible things." Ienzo's hand tightened. "That I had lost my heart, it's no excuse. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!" he shouted with squinted eyes. "There has to be a reason why we are here now… There has to be something we can do. To make it up to all those people we hurt." and he hissed.
Concerned Lea looked at the younger man then stepped up to him. "Ienzo." he spoke. "You're a good guy aren't you?" he asked. "I'm glad I finally got to meet you, after all this time."
And Ienzo looked up.
"Cheer up, it is as you said." Lea stated in a small smile. "We're here, so this is not over. From now on, we decide who to help. We can make it up to people, as long as we are still alive."
Ienzo looked up meeting Leas eyes. "Lea." he blinked.
Lea smirked putting his hands on Ienzos shoulders. "Let's work this out." he asked. "And let's do it as friends all right? It's no use doing all of this alone." and then finally he let go as he turned. "I'll give the castle a sweep, you just keep doing what-ever it is you do!" he grinned. "Gotta play to our strengths, I'm not smart enough for that computer. But I have two eyes I can use!" he stated as he left.
Stunned Ienzo looked at him then blinked.
"Ienzo?" Aelouse asked.
"He truly does seem different." Ienzo commented. "That was the real Lea?" he asked. "He seems nice." he smiled lightly.
"Stay wary." Aelouse asked. "Axel was always one of Xemnas's favorites. Both he and Saix was brought in due to some sort of special potential."
Ienzo shook his head. "Axel and Saix were both unique that is true, but unique in each their own way." he stated as he reached for the keyboard.
"You know something?" Aelouse asked.
"Only bits and pieces I was asked to research." Ienzo informed as he started to work.
Lea was still just trying to comprehend what the heck was going on as he wandered the castle… His heart.
It felt so warm, back at its proper place.
He was reminded of his childhood… When he was a child, he could feel other people. The people he cared about. And when these connections went missing… It hurt.
He tried to latch unto Isa… Roxas… Both turned up short, and it was painful. Isa… Are you around here? The real Isa? "Isa!" he called.
But there was no answer… Then Lea halted, he took a few steps back and turned… The window. Slowly he approached the window and glanced outside. His eyes widened.
There below him was a buzzing street, with people in it! The sky, it wasn't dark, it was blue! There was flowers down there… And trees. The water flowing normally from the fountains, it was… It was.
"Radiant garden." Lea breathed. It was back! Radiant garden was back!
Lea swallowed, but already knew there was no use fighting the tears… He hadn't cried for ten years. Not a single time since he had been turned into a nobody.
How though could he stop? After all this time! After all that had happened…. He was here.
"I..." Lea gasped. "I'm home."