Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any material related to Square Enix in any way or form.
If consciousness is the word to describe the state of feeling and being awake, while unconsciousness is the exact opposite, then what would we Nobodies be called? I ask myself that question as I open my eyes once more to darkness. But this darkness is different from the jeweled night that I usually see in dreams. Frankly, I find it rather amusing that Nobodies can dream without the hearts we so dearly desire.
"Why are you going to go along with his plan?" I start at the sound of my own voice, even though I know my lips did not move. Glancing around, I find nothing and no one nearby, and I wonder what the hell just happened.
"It's for research. You should know," I hear another voice reply. Zexion's voice. Why is it here? Unbidden, I know the words that are going to come next, though I cannot remember ever speaking them.
"But… what if something goes wrong? What if Ansem's wrong about everything: other worlds, their links, and hearts?"
"There is no turning back. If I have to give my own life for the sake of science, then so be it." Something, I don't know what, stirs painfully in my ribcage. It can't be my heart, that I know, but the pain is there and unbelievably real. I shake my head hard as I hear Zexion's voice continue.
"Besides, you're the one who came up with the secondary plan. If this one fails, we'll try yours. Ansem is very grateful you came up with the hypothesis…" I feel my face drain as I hear sobbing, and realize it's spilling from my own mouth this time. Darkness consumes me, and tears stream from my tightly shut eyes, the pain in my chest intensifying, a deathly throbbing that threatens to drive me to my knees.
"Ienzo…" I can hear myself gasping the unfamiliar name in pain and despair. "Don't leave me alone! The experiment hasn't been proven! It'll go horribly wrong, I know it will!"Unexpectedly, I feel a warm hand tilt my chin up. Opening my eyes cautiously, I see Zexion — Ienzo — leaning over me, his face slightly shadowed by the bright lights in a beige room. His brilliant azure eyes gaze down sympathetically at me.
"I won't leave you alone. I promise." I feel his breath ghost over my lips as he leans further down, until his face is mere centimeters from mine. My mouth opens and closes slightly in disbelief, and Zexion leans in closer and closer until I'm ready to explode in both fear and exhilaration…
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For the past two days, Zexion had sat at Caxebrec's side, carefully monitoring her progress. The bleeding had stopped, and the wounds were closing nicely. But despite all this, the Schemer couldn't help but feel 'concerned' for the Technician. If it was any other Organization member, he would have either left them for dead or bandaged them up and left them in another's care. However, Caxebrec was very important to Zexion, despite whatever logic told him. For quite some time, he had been sitting beside her bed, reading and rereading his favorite Fairytale, drifting unexpectedly into a doze every so often. But during one particular doze, he didn't expect his own name to escape his patient's lips in a soft, despairing tone.
"Zexion…" Piercing azure eyes trained on pale rose lips, pulled tight into a thin line. Frowning, the Schemer leaned forward, allowing his book to fall, unnoticed, to the ground.
"Zexion…" He leaned over the unconscious woman. A frown swept over his face as he watched her pallid lips move seemingly in pain, her faint murmurs barely audible.
"Don't leave me alone… experiment hasn't been proven…" The Technician whined slightly, her face screwing up in pain. Zexion's frown deepened; what was she dreaming? No further coherent words escaped her, although she continued to moan softly in what appeared to be 'fear' or pain. The Schemer looked at the vital statistics monitor beside her bed: her breathing picked up, and the electromagnetic sensor that Caxebrec herself had designed showed the currents in her body running close to dangerous levels.
"Stress level too high… Need to wake her up…" Zexion muttered, getting up to rummage through a nearby cabinet. He pulled out a small vial containing some sort of liquid, before reaching over to the tray of surgical tools to snatch a syringe. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Caxebrec's vitals spike past dangerously high and his eyes widened.
"Damn…" After quickly filling the syringe with the liquid and squirting a bit to remove the air bubbles, the Schemer carefully inserted the needle into the woman's neck, slowly pushing the column of liquid down until there was nothing left. Zexion removed the needle and applied pressure to the minute wound out of unconscious habit. Nobodies didn't die from blood loss, of course, but it would be a good idea not to tempt fate.
Less than a minute later, Caxebrec jolted awake with a cry, eyes shooting open, whole body tense. Zexion glanced at the vitals monitor, frowning at the brief straight line that interrupted the otherwise varied lines in her breathing and electromagnetic categories. That shot of adrenaline shouldn't have affected her that much, not unless her body was in a comatose state.
"Zexion." The Schemer returned his gaze back to the Technician, who was now sitting up, staring directly at him. He remained, unflinching, under her gaze as he waited for Caxebrec to say something else. Gradually, her breathing evened out, and the rapid beeping of the electromagnetic monitor slowed, until Caxebrec came down from the adrenaline rush. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath.
"How long have I been out?"
"Two days," the Schemer responded, noting the intense ice-blue of her irises as she stared at him.
"Really. Hm." Caxebrec began to take stock of where she was, slowly glancing around the room before settling back on Zexion's half-shadowed figure.
"May I go now?" she asked quietly, gesturing at the intravenous along her left arm.
"I need to make sure you are fully functional before I allow you to leave, Technician," he replied softly, quickly disconnecting the tubes connecting her to the IV and wrapping her arm in bandages. He turned around to snatch a chart from the top of the monitors, allowing Caxebrec a glimpse of the book on the floor.
"Fairytales?" Zexion paused for a split second, before returning to his seat, pen in hand.
"Disrobe." The Technician frowned at his clipped reply, but was thankful that he turned away as she began to pull off the hospital gown she wore, wrapping it around herself to keep some semblance of modesty in front of the Schemer.
"Done. Now what's this 'fairytales' book all about? Normally you never have a book even slightly off the topic of illusions and manipulation in your hands…" Zexion hoped that the Technician's uncharacteristic chattiness was a result of the shot of adrenaline and not some dormant trait that would arouse 'vexation' in him. He set to work, examining the almost-fully-healed wounds Caxebrec had sustained during her fight at Memory's Skyscraper. The Technician's voice gradually faded as she realized Zexion was not listening to her. Instead, she found herself oddly attracted to his silence, his deep, sultry voice as he told her to shift this way or that so he could continue his examination. When he told her to turn around, she didn't expect to be so close to him, close enough to see the fine fringe of eyelashes framing his beautiful azure eyes. A giddy feeling came over Caxebrec, and she struggled to keep from giggling.
"You're beautiful, Zexion." The Schemer's eyes widened a fraction, and Caxebrec finally giggled.
"So pretty… for a man…" She was close. Too close for comfort, and Zexion began to lean away from the Technician, who was on the verge of falling onto him.
"Caxebrec, you're suffering from the effects of the adrenaline. I suggest you dress and then go back to sleep." The Technician gazed blankly at Zexion, who stood swiftly, snatching up the book from the floor and walking to an adjacent laboratory, where he closed the door and leaned against it. He cursed himself.
"This is an unfortunate development. I never should have allowed myself to become her teacher." He gazed impassively at the book in his hand. With a quick flick of his wrist, the book slammed against the wall, only to fall into a wastebasket. 'Rage' contorted his face into a scowl
" There is never weakness. I'm already a Nobody. I will not allow more darkness to consume me."
A/N: I believe this could have been much better, but to satisfy my readers with another chapter, here is an update.