burgeoning replacements

3 - inquisitive Ixta

Ixta's first week was a wreck.

Or, better put, she had been a wreck. Combat was completely alien to her. Getting attacked repeatedly brought back a memory of playfighting with Sora and his friends, but parrying wooden sticks was nothing compared to deflecting snipers, daggers, cards, scythes, axe swords, shields, and elemental attacks, and Ixta found herself lying on her backside or on her face more often than not. The only ones who did not partake in putting her through the wringer, as Axel had called it, were the Superior, Saïx, Axel, and Demyx.

The Superior and Saïx, because they were too preoccupied with handling castle affairs, and Axel, because he was the babysitter and he needed to be around, not fighting, to ensure she didn't die. For Demyx, it was because Larxene forcefully took his turn to have another go at Ixta. As the member in charge of overseeing her physical progress, Lexaeus allowed it. According to him, Numbers IX and XII were matched for speed and so there was no harm in it.

Ixta doubted that. Axel had, too, after having to carry her back to her room after two matches with the woman. Whatever balance was achieved between the Nymph and the Nocturne, agreed her reluctant babysitter, was overturned by the former's ferocity. She even seemed happy whenever she managed to wound Ixta—often—and irritated whenever the new member instinctively self-healed.

"Ugh! And don't expect to get along just because we're the only girls in the Organization. Got it?"

According to Axel, that was as congratulatory as Larxene would get. Still, for all her hard edges, it was the blonde's persistence that taught Ixta to approximate how much energy she expended healing every wound and burn that resulted from their spars. ("Beating," Axel corrected.)

Besides learning to defend herself, Ixta had also discovered some of her more 'offensive' attacks that week: to prevent her superiors from using their magical ability for a period of time and to put them to sleep. But what Vexen deemed her most important ability was that of creating a potent poison from nothing but her own magic. The spell worked in varying degrees—but it was there, a power other than healing that was her very own.

The disease was easily detectable, and it wore off within a minute so that Ixta had to stay within close proximity of her opponent in order to consistently poison them. But its apparent weakness, Vexen taught, was one she could exploit to her advantage. It was benign enough at first that even Lexaeus kept at his barrage of attacks until he fell to his knees in a coughing fit, suddenly pale with clear signs of deteriorating health. His body expelled it, but the more she cast the spell, the more accustomed it grew to the poison – not so as to grow immune to it, but so that it finally began to ignore it even as it ate away at him.

"It really is the luck of the draw. Even in non-existence," Luxord had laughed, watching Vexen demand that Ixta discover the cure for their Stalwart's suddenly deteriorating body. "Leading us on with a facade of good-natured healing ability... that's your game, then! A toss-up."

If her Other had known what that meant, it didn't sink in with the Nobody. All she knew was that she was both the poison and the remedy—and that after the exercise, she had finally been given a title of her own.

The Killing Nostrum.

Ixta's Other was efficient in existence, and this was clear enough even in her non-existence. No matter the work she had been put through the day before, she always woke in time to prepare for the arrival of a grumbling Axel, sent daily to take her to Vexen for training. He said he was being punished for insubordination, but Ixta doubted it. Vexen and Saïx seemed like perfectly level-headed Nobodies, though the former had a tendency to yell when 'frustrated' and the latter had a berserker mode that nearly killed her.

But Ixta knew that had little to do with her. So she rose early every morning time and made sure she was ready with a full stomach before Axel knocked on her door, five times first and two final raps after.

Today, however, it was three heavy bangs that announced the arrival of a superior—along with a whiny mumbling that sounded like a garbled, "Ixta...you awake?"

Sitting at the edge of her bed, feet and knees together, Ixta banished the staff she'd been inspecting and opened the door. There stood a young man with a few years to her, his light hair styled into a mullet and his perpetual slouch present as he leaned against the doorframe. She could tell it was him from the strength she could sense. Ixta couldn't sense specific signatures the way Zexion could, but she could tell how powerful they were or how much life they had left in them. Demyx wasn't weak like Larxene often insisted at all—only incredibly lazy.

"Hey," he yawned.

"Hello. What am I doing today?"

Though her training and subsequent evaluations would continue, Ixta was finally deemed ready to set out on missions. Vexen had given his seal of approval, declaring that her Poison spell as well as her other abilities were enough to keep her alive on the field.

"...And that's it," Demyx reported, stuffing the paper he'd read back into his pocket. Glancing over at the girl, he added, "Oh, and if you're wondering where Axel is, he was sent on some mission this morning."

Ixta met his gaze and nodded. "I wasn't."

"Ouch," remarked the musician, a small grin on his face. Though she had only known him for a short time, Ixta understood that Demyx's face was one of the more expressive ones in the Organization. He was somewhat special, to her, in that he faked his emotions very well. Unlike Vexen who explained his methods or ranted about Axel, Demyx needed only whine and grimace to show his reluctance or dislike for many things, or people, like Larxene. The first time they met, the mischief on his face reminded her of Sora. "Don't you miss him?" the man needled. "Haven't you two been together every day since you arrived? He found you, right? Saved you from X-f...uhh, Saïx?"

"Why would I miss him?" she asked, staring ahead at the empty hallway. The other members were forbidden to take her through Corridors to accustom her to the castle, with Axel being the exception if she collapsed after training. As she recalled the chakram-user, his words to her a week before came to mind.

Go with that one. Be inquisitive.

"Wait," she said, pausing in her tracks. "Would missing him help me with our mission today?"

"Nah," Demyx sighed. He drew another piece of paper from his coat and unfolded it. "We're supposed to go to, uh, let's see..."

"The Land of Dragons," said an imperial voice behind them.

Demyx muttered something under his breath. Ixta turned and nodded. "Hi, Lexaeus." Be inquisitive. "How are you this morning?"

The giant's eyebrows furrowed. "Well enough. Isn't it time you two left for your mission? I prescribed this to Saïx. The Heartless we've scouted in that world are prone to moving about—like Xigbar. It should prepare you for training with him tomorrow. If you are to show any improvement in keeping track of your enemies' whereabouts, it will be through this task."

"And what about Demyx?" she asked. "Is he my babysitter?"

"Pretty much," said Number IX.

"No," Lexaeus frowned. "You are to work on your own skill as well, Demyx. The time may come that you are called for battle instead of reconnaissance. This is enough stalling—Saïx is losing his patience."

"Won't be the only thing he's lost," Demyx sighed, but opened up a Corridor. "Okay, then. Let's goooo."

Ixta had seen Heartless before—Vexen had shown her the Organization's documentation of them—but it was her first time coming up against them since Axel, Saïx, and the Dusks had banished them from that avenue on the night of her recruitment. They were wild, mindless things, unless provoked by a heart. That made it easy enough for a Nobody to get a pre-emptive strike, but once a Heartless recognized one as an enemy, so did the others. That was when training began.

The Land of Dragons, for whatever reason it was called that, had no dragons at all. It was a snow-capped mountain in the wilderness, the slope bright and almost blinding though the sun barely peeked through the multitude of clouds. The Heartless abounded in the caverns carved into the mountainside, but there were no people in sight. The two kept their hoods up if only to keep their ears warm.

"Shouldn't the Heartless be drawn to villages of people?" Ixta asked her companion. Demyx languidly stretched next to her. "Why are they settling near these abandoned caves?"

"Too many of them already," Demyx yawned. For someone who claimed to dislike fighting, he wasn't out of breath at all from their last skirmish.

"I can sense that," she nodded. "Even from far away. Why is that?"

Demyx shrugged, tugging down his hood for a second. "This world'll be gone soon. You know..." he waved his hands as if that would explain everything, "overrun with darkness?"

"And this is a precursor," Ixta realized. "Okay. So—"

"Hey, you know Xiggy's a pretty wicked opponent, right?"

Ixta didn't mind the subject change. "Yes. Why?"

"I was thinking—being your elder and all, I have a lot more combat experience than you think. Sometimes reconnaissance doesn't go so great. But you have training with Xigbar tomorrow and you're way behind on that experience. So why don't I let you handle the rest of the Heartless from here on out?"

Ixta watched his face contort into a disarming smile. She knew there was something about it that should have unnerved her, but she couldn't tell which. Her memories failed her whenever it came to remembering things she couldn't quite connect with Sora. Or maybe not—she vaguely remembered him trying to get away from doing his chores...

"Are you lying to me?"

"What? No!" Demyx looked offended at that. "Unlike you, who only remembers, uh...being weird," he huffed, "I remember being nice. This is me being nice! Do you want Xigbar to wipe the floor with you again tomorrow?"

Xigbar's projectiles were always difficult to pull out. "No."

"See? I'm nice. So, time to get this over with, right? That horde should be enough to complete Lexaeus's silly mission." Demyx looked over her head and took a step back. His sitar appeared in his hand as he lifted a free arm. "Yoohoo! Heartless! Over here!" He gave his sitar a great strum, sending a jet of water streaming at the creatures floating in the air not far from them.

Ixta whirled at the swarm of Rapid Thruster Heartless headed their way. "Demyx, wait—"

When she looked back, he had already run behind a boulder some ways from the clearing. The Heartless squealed, like metal scraping against metal, rushing at her with blank yellow eyes. Their beaks tore at her, picking at her coat as though fighting for their share of meat. It was starting to get painful. A Nobody couldn't feel fear, but the body's survival instinct never diminished.

Suddenly, in the haze of desperation to bat them away, Ixta understood what Lexaeus meant. Xigbar, always flitting about, was a difficult man to pin down. He might as well have been everywhere—just like these heartless. If she couldn't locate a specific target, as with these things, she would have to expand her area of attack.

Summoning her staff, she swung the length of it across her enemies, prompting them to fly back. As soon as she was free of most of them, she unhooded herself and let out the breath she was holding back—a murky green miasma that diffused into the air immediately surrounding them.

Not long after that, Demyx and Ixta returned to the castle. The former was coughing heavily but intact. The latter had holes in her coat and her hair was utterly disheveled, but she bore the same composure as always, if not a little pale from fatigue. Sitting alone at the Grey Area arranging mission logs, Saïx met them with a quirked brow.

"Report."

Demyx tried to speak, but he was much too busy taking deep breaths with a hand to his mouth. When Number VII's golden eyes settled on her instead, Ixta nodded. "We completed our mission to train against swarms of flying Heartless in the Land of Dragons, a world about to be overrun by darkness. Number IX was nice enough to let me finish off the last swarm."

Speaking looked to be a task for the tired girl at the moment. But she continued, hardly noticing Demyx coughing out her name in an attempt to stop her. "In my desire to survive, I discovered a new attack. I think I'll call it Bad Breath. It inflicts Slow, Blind, and Sleep upon a number of opponents. Saïx, do you know what makes it so that Demyx remembers how to be nice in general, but I can only recover memories of my brother? What do you remember from your past life?"

At this point, Saïx was no longer paying her any attention. His stony gaze was fixed on Demyx. "You were nice enough to allow her to take on the last swarm alone, Demyx?"

"U-Uh...no, it was more like..."

"We have been waiting to find a thirteenth member for quite some time. You were to supervise her and participate in the battle for your own training as well."

"No," Ixta interjected. She remembered taking the blame for Sora many times. She wasn't inclined to do the same for Demyx, but in any case, Vexen said it was necessary to be upfront about all things on the battlefield so that any and all wounds or developments could be addressed. "Demyx supervised from behind the boulder where he was waiting for me to finish the Bad Breath spell. And the reason he's coughing is that I couldn't control the miasma and it reached him. If I have no more missions, I'll focus on learning to contain the effects of the spell in the target area."

"Go to Vexen for your check-up and complete a written report to submit to me," Saïx replied, overlooking the rest of her statement.

"Isn't this information relevant, Saïx? Why are you dismissing me?"

"Ixta," Saïx frowned. "Do not make me repeat myself."

Recalling his Berserker mode, Ixta obeyed.

"Now," the man turned to Demyx, "since only XIII appears to have benefited from learning from the mission, you may undertake another one. I suggest..."

Heading out of the Grey Area, Ixta glanced back at her two superiors. Demyx was nodding reluctantly at Saïx's instructions, but his eyes were on her—and he was glaring.

Had she done something wrong?

As expected, Xigbar was an extremely difficult fight—all her superiors were, but with Number II, it wasn't for how painful his attacks were, but for how tiresome it was to keep track of him. He blinked in and out of the battlefield, which made it seem like he was shooting at her from all directions. The week previous, he'd decimated her just by keeping her turning in circles and firing with impunity as soon as she fell, dizzy and ready to vomit breakfast, only to pass out from the pain of a single shot of his sniper rifle.

Thanks to Lexaeus's mission, however, today's battle went a little differently. Ixta had no need to keep looking around for her opponent—she could sense him, even from behind, and resorted to simply dodging away from her current spot as he shot at her. Thanks to her Bad Breath, too, she hadn't needed to spot him or stay close to him simply to cast the spell.

Of course, that didn't stop the man from ultimately winning. Lexaeus had told her that morning not to expect much—Larxene insisted it was simply that she was weak, but the Stalwart brushed her off, arguing that Ixta was only a week and a half old compared to the rest of the Organization. As long as she learned from her constant battles, he said, it was impossible for her not to gain skill. For some reason, she was inclined to believe the giant.

"Ha!"

Ixta slid across the Hall of Empty Melodies, the remnants of Xigbar's sniper round burning into her coat. Sapped of energy earlier spent on keeping him stunned enough with her Bad Breath spell to land a few hits, the brunette lay her head on the ground and breathed heavily.

Appearing upside down, ponytail swinging over Ixta's face, Number II chuckled. "Not bad, little bait. You're getting a lot quicker! Had to use more rounds on you than I did the first time. Tell Lexaeus you're still an easy target, but I'm givin' you a B for that Bad Breath Improvement. Heh."

That was another thing that set Xigbar apart from the others. He was oddly encouraging in battle—every time she managed to land a hit, he'd laugh. Clever little sneak! Axel said it was sarcasm, and Ixta could hear it sometimes, she guessed, but he was still different in that regard.

She nodded, sitting up. Her body ached from the exercise and the lack of power to heal herself, but she was almost used to it. "Why did you call me little bait just now?"

With a wink, Xigbar disappeared—and then reappeared next to her. He made no motion to help her stand. "Like it? No?"

"Neither. I was just being inquisitive." She struggled to get to her feet. That she did after such a battle was a feat in itself. Her short hair was a frazzled mess, but Ixta did nothing to comb it down. "Xigbar, do you mind my being inquisitive?"

Xigbar quirked a brow. "All right, bait. I'll bite." He laughed at his own little joke. "What are you talking about?"

"Yesterday, Demyx and I reported back to Saïx about our mission. I was being inquisitive with Saïx, but he dismissed me and ordered me to report to Vexen. Then, Demyx glared at me as I left. I reflected on it and thought that maybe the other members aren't receptive of my being inquisitive. Which is odd, because Axel told me it would help me fit in with the others better. I assume he wants me to do this to help us achieve our mission that much faster. So I decided to ask—"

"Uh-huh. So that's what Demyx's been a wet blanket about," he laughed, shaking his head. "He didn't even pretend to laugh at that joke, you know. Ha! But you know what's weirder than you in general and Axel handing out advice?"

Ixta shook her head.

Xigbar rolled his visible eye. "You asking if it's okay to be inquisitive. Don't ask. Just shoot. Got it?"

"So...just ask," she clarified.

Weapons dissipating into the air, the sniper crossed his arms. "Shoot."

"All right. I've been wondering since I discovered your attribute and saw you in battle firsthand. You must be our swiftest member, discounting whenever I use my own time-related spells and Luxord applying his attribute. So I wanted to ask: how did you ever come to have an eye patch and a scar? Did your Space attribute fail you?"

Xigbar stared at her, apparently speechless—until he gave a Ha! that resounded in the Hall, and then he burst into laughter.

Ixta was confused.

And then Xigbar conjured his sniper, aiming the barrel directly between her eyes. "Get out of my sight."

Ixta was due for a check-up after her solo reconnaissance mission the following day. Vexen sat in his neat laboratory as always, looking over Ixta's vitals and reading her report before she submitted it to Saïx. Their Chilly Academic was apparently the best at undercover operations, so it was his approval she was instructed to seek.

"Well-written and thorough," the scientist nodded, setting the paper down on his desk. "You seem to need no tutoring in the art. I look forward to your work in the Organization, child. You appear to be one of the very few with the mind for it—you and Zexion. If Xemnas sees it fit, you can aid me in my research. As for your physical condition, I believe we have discovered the general scope of your abilities. Continue with your solo missions and training. You won't need any more check-ups—you need only report if you discover any new spells. Otherwise, do not bother me unless it is of the utmost importance—I'm very busy with my own experiments. Dismissed."

Ixta stood accordingly, picking up her report. She caught a glimpse of blueprints for what appeared to be a machine, but it was out of her depth. "Vexen?"

The scientist followed her gaze and rearranged his desk, covering the papers with Ixta's file. "What is it?"

"What experiments?" she asked. "Axel said you were a mad scientist, but—"

"He said what?"

Ixta only nodded. "But I've never seen you come up with anything in the week and a half that I've been here. When will you show us your projects? Have your experiments brought us to where we are in any way? how much do you think we truly know about the nature of Nobodies if we can't determine our attributes without a real standard?"

For a moment, Vexen wore that same look Xigbar did—odd, considering their feigned personalities were worlds different—as if trying to understand her meaning. And then he growled, lip curled, brows furrowing as he swung his arm almost violently to point to the door. "Get out."

"Do you mean..."

"Get out of my laboratory!"

Two mornings later, Ixta found her way to the Grey Area holding a note Saïx had left at her door. Their routine was that he saw her before and after missions to brief and debrief, so that he thought he needed to leave a note was questionable. He was waiting on one of the couches, back turned to her, a pile of papers on the desk before him as always. Across him, past the window, was a small beam of light. Like a waning moon, the memory rushed to her, only it had a pointed edge and would have been absolutely invisible to the eye if the night sky weren't so dark against it.

"Ixta. Were you reading over my shoulder?"

Ixta glanced down. Saïx brooked no explanation as he said, "Sit."

She obeyed, and remembered how she liked sitting on the couch on their islands. Velvet soft, she recalled, but nothing else. "Is something the matter, Saïx? Did you find my reconnaissance report unsatisfactory?"

"No. But I have received reports of you being insufferable."

"...How so?" Ixta knew what it meant, but her limited memories showed her only enough to make Sora aggravating; not insufferable. And that was usually when he accepted Riku's silly challenges or believed him more than he did her.

"According to one—some of your superiors, you..." The man cleared his throat as though it were beneath him to relay the statement. "'She doesn't know when to shut up.' They say it is getting in the way of our goals. Is this true?"

"I don't believe so..." Ixta looked back on the past few days and shrugged. "I haven't changed anything in my routine since I arrived, except that Axel went on a mission the other day and no longer babysits me, and that I received Vexen's approval for solo missions unless my superiors believe otherwise. And no more check-ups."

"Hmm. Freed of Axel's influence? That can't be a negative. Think harder."

"Axel did tell me to be inquisitive on my first day—to fit in better with the Organization. My Other was inquisitive. so my goal is to be more like her."

Saïx blinked at that. "...Inquisitive? That is no emotion. What else did Axel tell you?"

"That being effective didn't count. So he chose inquisitive."

He sighed. "So your memory recall has been very poor."

"I disagree. I remember many things about my brother."

"But your attempts to feign having a heart are terrible. I shall be the judge. Go on—" he sat back, eyeing her critically. "Pretend to me."

Ixta nodded, taking in all of Saïx's features. Her Other always asked what was different about Sora and his friends so that she could find out what was wrong. That way, she would how to fix them. That involved understanding what brought about the wounds, but that was assuming they were human. With Saïx, though—she wasn't even certain she could make that assumption.

So she asked, "Did you have pointy ears and the scar before your heart was taken, Saïx? More importantly, were you even human?"

Saïx's mouth, perpetually set in a line, slowly fell into a frown—the way it did whenever he spoke with Demyx. "What did you say?"

"I've never seen a human with features like yours," explained Ixta. "The scar, maybe, but what a coincidence that it turned out to be shaped like an X, the same thing added to each member's name upon joining the Organization. Don't you think so? I wonder if—"

Any further thoughts were interrupted by another robed man nearly flying out of his Corridor as he leapt into the Grey Area. Lowering his hood, he grabbed their newest member from her seat and pushed her to the other end of the couch. "Whoa, whoa! Ixta, what do you think you're doing?"

"Axel," came Saïx's accusatory hiss.

"Hi, Axel," said Ixta, in the same monotonous tone she greeted all her superiors. "How are you today?"

Axel opened his mouth with an odd grimace, but Saïx beat him to it. "Number XIII has gotten out of control in your absence. You know inquisitiveness is not an emotion. Are your teaching skills so nonexistent?"

The redhead replied with his usual lopsided grin. "Ah, funny you should say it like that... But why do you even want her to change, Saïx? I thought you'd like someone not burdened with fake emotions for once."

VII pulled him aside, murmuring sternly as he eyed Ixta with obvious disdain. "Now isn't the time for levity, Lea. Teach her. And properly, this time. One who cannot feign a heart cannot expect to lure those who possess them."

Axel blinked. "A lure? For who?"

If Saïx knew, he didn't care to tell Axel. Ixta watched him storm away with the same curiosity that might have made her Other proud. "What—"

"—exactly did you do while I was gone to get Saïx's panties in a twist, huh?"

"I was being inquisitive. Like you told me to be."

Elbows against the sofa's backrest, Axel gaped at her. "That was almost two weeks ago. You had to start when I left?"

"I focused on discovering my abilities first," said Ixta. "And then I followed your advice. Which Xigbar said was odd. What I don't understand is why he and Vexen wanted me to leave after asking them questions. Or why Demyx glared at me."

"I don't even want to know," Axel muttered, hanging his head low. "What did you say, Ixta?"

"I asked why Demyx remembered being nice enough in general to let me complete our mission alone while I only recover memories of my brother, and why Xigbar had a scar and an eye patch, and what exactly, if you called him a mad scientist, kind of progress Vexen has made with his experiments, and—"

Axel interrupted with a loud groan. "Man, oh, man... You can't just ask the others whatever gets into your head! Do you want to get turned into a Dusk? And...don't go around telling people what I said about them! Didn't your Other understand the concept of secrets?"

"That has nothing do with secrets," Ixta insisted. "And my questions weren't random. They were all purposeful—every fact I mentioned was relevant to understanding our nature. And our Organization's progress."

Axel watched her blankly. At that point, Ixta was prepared to get told to get out, however little she understood why—but the man only sighed. "You don't even know, do you? This isn't about 'making friends' in the Organization. It's about survival. I don't care that you don't care about the other members. That's part of being a Nobody. But you gotta understand that if you cause too much trouble, you'll get turned into a Dusk—and then it's bye-bye Sora for good."

Ixta looked up at that, head tilting in curiosity. "Why are you counselling me? I thought you didn't care."

"I don't," Axel shrugged. "But Saïx is already clearing missions from everyone else's plate to dump on you, and we'd all hate to pick up the slack again if you were demoted."

"I understand." That made much more sense than the possibility of her superior giving her any thought whatsoever. And he was right. Not only would Sora try to destroy her if she failed to pretend—she might never even meet him if she were punished into a Dusk. She had to try harder, and that would start now.

Ixta remembered the 'ha ha' sound the other members like Larxene and Demyx made when showing mirth. Sora was usually happy that way, too. So, taking a deep breath, she feigned bursting into laughter. "Ha ha ha! Ha! Ha!"

That accomplished, she turned to her new mentor. "How was that for starters?"

Axel was staring at her with a horrified expression. He seemed to have taken a step back during her show. When she only watched him blankly, asking what she'd done wrong, he scratched the back of his head in surrender. Turning toward the kitchen area, he beckoned to her.

"We've got a long way to go..."

Hello again!

This is what we meant about being patient with Ixta. We know it's odd that her memory recall is total shit, but that's sort of central to her character. You'll see! In the next chapter, actually. It's a good thing she has someone looking out for her! Or for himself, really. For now. Tee hee! Also, in case you noticed, Ixta's "Bad Breath" attack actually comes from a Final Fantasy Malboro. Nit (and I, Elis, personally, since I'm an avid FF fan too...but only until XII so far, so sorry) has a love/hate relationship with that monster, so we thought it perfect for Ixta! What with her healing/status condition attribute and all. Her 'special' attacks would be some "- Breath" attack taken from the Malboro, too, or a very big heal - either would take a chunk of her strength/life if she put too much into it. Of course, her Bad Breath is pretty nerfed compared to those adorable jerk Malboros, but we hope you see the juxtaposition.

We promise the next chapters will be longer-we thought it appropriate to cut it here because it would be too long otherwise. Unless you don't like longer chapters.

We'd love feedback! Tell us what you think. And thanks to those who followed the story so far! We know we haven't given you much in the way of romance yet, but it'll come. Hehe. (For those who read PoM, you know how much we love the slow burn.)

Till next time!