Development of Nonexistent Relations

*

"Come on," huffed Roxas, walking back the way they came. Aresia went with him, but noticed a distinct change in demeanor.

"Something the matter?" she asked.

"Just dislike being treated like a kid," he confided in her. Being the youngest and newest member, it occurred often.

"I don't treat you like a kid," she pointed out.

The two came up to the door marked V and continued straight.

Roxas stopped for a second in thought and replied, "I know," before starting back up again. They came to two large double doors. They were a symmetrical mix of swirls of black and white with no handles – Aresia assumed they were swinging doors. Roxas stepped in front of her and pushed them open and they walked in.

The room was amazingly white and, as she noticed, Aresia muttered, "What a surprise." Several tall white armchairs rose out of the floor to varied altitudes. In each, there sat a figure in a black coat with its hood pulled up, the person behind it completely indecipherable. As Aresia gazed about the great hall, she turned to ask Roxas what she was supposed to do, but he wasn't beside her. She clicked her tongue and faced the semi circle of chairs before her.

"Members of Organization XIII, this is our newest guest, Aresia," she heard Xemnas' voice announce.

"Where will she be staying?" Axel asked, causing Aresia to inwardly groan, doubting the chance that they would be able to recommend a nearby inn for her to room in.

"I have thought about it and decided that she'll be in a cleared storage room adjacent to the library for convenient surveillance," he answered, "All necessities will be provided and I believe I am speaking for Aresia when I say she would prefer that no one enter without her consent, understood?"

A few people responded with muttered affirmatives and some with rhetorical questionings of why anyone would want to go in her room at all.

"Why is she here?" The question most of them had been waiting for.

"She's agreed to indulge herself in our research. I'm sure some of you are very 'excited' to hear that," he replied, "Also, I need to see her in combat, if one of you would care to volunteer."

"I will!" exclaimed Axel; she saw a figure she guessed was Axel being to crack his knuckles, "A little payback for earlier."

"Axel, is it true that our newcomer here transformed you into a sheep?" An articulate voice asked. Word seems to travel fast, Aresia thought to herself as she smiled.

"Seriously?!" A girlish shout rang off the bare walls, then began laughing hysterically and slapping her knee at his reaction.

"No! She did not!" Axel sputtered out as some other members chuckled a bit.

"Enough!" yelled Xemnas, and everyone calmed, "Then, it is settled. In four hours time, you will fight Axel. Rules are until forfeit, no use of potions of ether is allowed. I'm looking forward to it."

"I love how much of a say I get in this," Aresia spoke up sarcastically.

She heard another member say, "You'll get used to it."

"Roxas, if you'll lead her to her quarters, they should be well prepared by this point. Come back afterwards, we have other matters to discuss."

A portal appeared beside her and hooded figure stepped out and pulled her arm through, taking her, eyes rolling, with it. The time in this one was barely more than a moment before she was introduced to a solid oak door.

"Here you go," Roxas said. He had removed his hood, showing his black hair, blue eyes and child-like face again.

Aresia frowned at him, the door had no knob. She feigned reaching for a handle so he could see the issue.

"Oh, you have to create a password, watch," He waved his hand in front of a control panel next to the door which opened at the motion. He stepped aside so she could read the instructions, "I have to go for now, make yourself comfortable." With that, he vanished back into the darkness.

Aresia watched the control panel curiously. She waved her own hand in front of it, and it closed. Again, and it opened. The inside was a black screen with a flashing green bar on it. Below the screen there was a keypad with letters, numbers, punctuation markings, and several other things. Her eyebrows raised; she went to push the button labeled with a C. Pressing a single fingertip against it, she sighed, thinking nothing had happened, but then, she saw that there was now a C in front of the flashing green bar.

"Awesome!" she gasped, then checking to make sure no one had heard her, she continued to spell out the word "create" when she stumbled across a problem. How was she going to separate "create" and "password"? Aresia held her chin in thought. Well, it must be one of those buttons that I don't know about, she decided. She tried a key labeled "Shift," which did nothing, and then she tried F1, then F2, and F7, all of which proved not to have an effect. Why the hell is there more than one F button anyway? She asked herself in irritation. Then, her eyes saw a key which read "Backspace." She pressed it gently and the last E on her "create" was removed by the green bar.

"No!" she cried. She pushed E again and sighed in relief when it returned to its original position. After that, she pressed the key above "Shift" and jumped in surprise as the screen flashed red and in bold read: INVALID COMMAND.

The screen returned to black with just the blinking green bar. Frustrated beyond belief, she harshly reentered the letters of create and then slammed her staff against the screen, one of the spikes hitting the spacebar and another nicking the panel with a minor indent. Smiling at the newly damaged equipment, she saw that the cursor had now hitched over, creating a space. With her new discovery giving her confidence, she typed out the word "password" and hit enter. She then proceeded to create her username and password without a hitch and the oak door swung open for her. She waved her hand in front of the panel, closing it, and she walking into her new room. The walls were white, with a matching baseboard, much to her dismay. She found some relief when she saw a wooden wardrobe as well as a twin-sized bed in the corner, already prepared with sheets and a dark blue comforter, along with an end table complete with a lamp. A door was open to the left, leading to a compact bathroom with a sink, shower, and toilet. She crossed the room and set her staff against the wardrobe before sitting on the bed. She took off her knapsack on the shelf on the end table. Aresia decided that the bed was comfortable enough; she had slept in worse. For once, she was glad to have a chance to sit away from all of those black coats.

There was a knock. Sighing, she stood back up, waved her hand in front of the control panel positioned next to the door and entered her password. The door swung open to show an older man in the standard dress for this area with a small vial in hand.

"Pardon me if I disturbed you, Miss. My name is Vexen and I would like you to take this. It is just a sample and it normally causes its user to feel drowsy. I guessed that you would want to rest before your duel with Axel anyway," the man named Vexen explained, handing the vial to Aresia, who took it from him.

"Okay," she said, pulling down her mask from her nose, drinking from it, and finishing it. Instantly, she felt too weak to stand as her vision blurred and she swayed, trying to lean on her staff before realizing it wasn't there. She fell to her left and collapsed on the floor. The last thing she saw was a very annoyed scientist muttering about how he didn't consider how much less she weighed than his usual subjects.

Aresia's head was pounding when she came back to consciousness; she heard muffled voices around her. One seemed quite upset.

"What did you do?" a barely recognizable Roxas screamed.

"I gave her a calming draught! She just . . . responded much more effectively," Vexen had said in his defense.

"Understatement," she groaned, opening her eyes and raising a still-asleep hand to rub them. Aresia found that she was no longer on the floor of her room, but on a black leather couch.

"3:48, subject appears to have regained consciousness, speech, and motor functions." A nameless voice announced.

"Aresia, are you okay?" Roxas asked softly.

"Miss, I'm terribly sorry. I think I've made something that will ease your headache from that spill," Vexen started.

"You're not giving her anything!" Roxas yelled at him.

As her vision returned to focus, she saw Vexen and Roxas continue to argue and another young man, with dark hair blocking half of his face, roll his eyes and return to taking notes into a journal.

"You're not even a scientist, XIII! I have seniority and you have no right to tell me what to do!" Vexen snapped back. Roxas turned red in the face and his clenched fists shook.

"What if you kill her? What would that mean for you, only a record broken on fastest death during an experiment?"

Aresia sat up and rubbed her temples as they throbbed.

"Quiet," the other man said sternly, but not loudly. He gained their attention and added, "Yelling solves nothing."

Both Roxas and Vexen appeared flustered. Roxas muttered something and portaled out of the room while Vexen left the potion on the table if she "decided to change her mind." When they had both left, she turned her attention to the one writing in his notebook. He would glance up every few seconds or so.

"Thanks," she said quietly. For a moment, she thought that he hadn't heard her, as he continued to write and did not look up. He reached the end of his page, put his pen down, and closed the notebook. He stood from his seat and walked over to the couch and knelt down next to her. His dark blue eyes studied her intensely.

"Yes?" she asked awkwardly. She was unsure what to think. He did not speak again; he went and retrieved his journal, dragged the chair closet to the table and began to write. Seemingly in the middle of sentence, he sighed and breathed deeply. He rested his chin on his right hand and blew some of the hair out of his face.

"Leaves, sand, and books."

Aresia threw him a questioning look.

"Maple leaves, if I'm not mistaken," he clarified.

She assumed that he must have seen her pouches. "You are correct," she started, "Do you find that strange?"

"A unique combination, I admit," he replied simply, adding, "I've been meaning to ask why you have such items on your person since you arrived."

This puzzled Aresia further, causing her to knit her eyebrows together.

The man smirked. "It was a most interesting scent, strangely crisp, very autumnal."

"Should I take that as a compliment?" She crossed her legs Indian-style under her robes and leaned forward on her elbows.

"It was, in a way. Why do you carry maple leaves, sand, and leather-bound books with you?" The way he spoke made it seem more like a statement than a question.

"I use them to fight," she responded.

"Magus, yes?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically, "The wielders of trees of Fire and Frost; true masters of the elements. There are many books in this library of your kind. I thought them nothing more than fairytales."

"Is this surprising?"

"I cannot feel surprise, mage, but now I do believe in those stories though I would like one inconsistency cleared up. Are there creatures known as kender?"

"There are. I used to know one, Sam Thistlebranch. We traveled together for some time. As it were, I have as much wander-lust as a kender, even Sam agreed. I must have some of that blood in me," she told the man with an extraordinary sense of smell, who jotted another note down into his journal. She glanced at his writings.

"Do you know my name?" she asked him.

"You have not told me it," he replied logically.

"My name is Aresia," she introduced herself though she figured he had already learned her name during the meeting.

"3:55. Subject's name is Aresia," he said aloud as he wrote it in his book.

"What is your name?"

"My name is not constant." He shrugged and watched her as she appeared unsatisfied with his answer.

She tried again. "What is your name now?"

He smirked again, an ill-fitting mark on his serious face. "Zexion."

"That's a nice name," she offered a compliment.

"As is yours," he started, not appearing at all flattered, "Did you realize you're the only one in this building without an 'x' in their name?"

"I did, actually."

"You are observant, what a welcome change."

Now it was Aresia's turn to smile. "I bet you believe you're always surrounded by idiots."

"Not anymore," he said, and then whispered, "I know you'll win your battle, if you arrive on time . . ."

Zexion faded, as if a gentle wind had blown him away. Aresia reached out, but her hand only went through the empty air where he once sat. She sighed and looked at the potion left on the table. She took it up, sniffed it, decided it seemed enough like medicine, and downed it. The headache dulled and the throbbing ceased.

She looked at the extensive library, shelves, rows, and a few carts were filled with books. Aresia wandered between the first two shelves. They were in alphabetical order by the author's last name. She removed a green and yellow volume from the shelf by a man named Amasal. From the cover, she assumed that he was an herbalist as there were leaves wrapping around it. She opened it and read the title to herself.

"A Trip to Nerante, a tale of two mages whose lives and changed eternally through their travels."

That sounds interesting, she thought, turning the page.

"I met Gargrof on a boat from Danamore, where I grew up. As a young man, I decided to see the world and travel to foreign places to further my knowledge of the magical arts. Our meeting wasn't a pleasant one, as halfway through the trip he became sea sick on my beautiful red robes, ruining them. He apologized profusely and offered me an extra set of his until he could afford to purchase me new ones. Prior to that, he asked me how I could manage on boats so well. Being raised on a port –"

"Aresia!" Roxas called, breaking her concentration. He came through the door and made his way over.

"Hello," she muttered. He seemed excited.

"What have you been doing? You have to come fight Axel," he said loudly, hurriedly. He grabbed her by the cuff of her robes at her wrist and started to drag her toward the door.

"Oh, right." She allowed herself to be led from the library, book in hand. She stopped suddenly when she felt strangely vulnerable, "Wait, my staff!"

She wrenched her arm from Roxas' grip, went to her adjacently located room, unlocked the door, fetched her staff from beside the wardrobe, and carefully placed A Trip to Nerante on her bedside table before returning to his side.

"Well, aren't you going to port me?" she asked as she pat her reagent pouches, reassuring herself. Aresia pulled her mask back up over her nose.

Roxas nodded, summoning a portal. His cold gloved hand enclosed over hers and she felt like pulling away, but he had already walked into the darkness.

As they departed the dismal abyss, they found themselves in a sullen courtyard. The space between the two buildings was dirt, and not an earthy brown, but a dull gray. She tested the density with her staff and found it to be a bit damp, but hard and smooth. Her slip-on cloth boots had no soles, she expected there to be stray pebbles that might hurt the weak underside of her foot, and she would have to watch her step. On the far left, there were bleachers where about eight of the members were seated, some reclined or legs crossed and others more apprehensive.

Roxas came close to her and wished her luck, raising her hand, his thumb gently stroking her fingers. Then, he dropped her hand and walked towards the bleachers. One member dropped his hood to show bright red spikes as he beckoned Roxas over.

'He's cute, for a kid, I'll give him that,' she thought to herself as she watched the young blonde bound over to Axel and start to talk. Feeling out of place in her robes and cloth hood and her magical staff, its purple glow reflecting her eyes, mixed with the light from Kingdom Hearts as it shone above, keeping the grey courtyard lit.

"Aresia, are you prepared?" Xemnas asked from behind her.

"As I'll ever be," she replied, wiping her sweaty palm on her robes.

Axel rose from his seat and swaggered over confidently.

"Remember," Xemnas warned, "This fight is to forfeit, not death."

"That means you can give up now," Axel boasted. She knew that he would try to make it a quick win, something to brag about and save face after the sheep incident. Thinking back, she saw the flame about his weapons and fingered an orange charm in her pocket with an edge showing in a crooked smile hidden behind her hood.

"3, 2, 1," Xemnas counted down and quickly ported over to the bleachers.

Axel summoned his weapons and swung with his right arm to her head. She stepped back, too slowly as the sharp edges sliced her hood as he came with his left for her torso vertically upward. Aresia blocked holding her staff in front of its path, but the force of the blow jarred her arms, her left more than her right as she felt a twinge in her elbow. He jumped back while Aresia reached for the orange charm and pulled it out; he called up a pillar of flame from the ground and sent it to her at a rapid speed.

"Burn!" he yelled as the column rushed to her.

"Cortege flamma," she said as she dropped the charm, which turned into a wall of bricks, swirling and transparent as the color of fire. The incoming wave of fire was reflected off the shield and it bounced off back towards its master, who rolled away to the side and repeated the attack. Again, the pillar was returned to him as barely escaped the fate he had planned for her. He then opened a portal and reappeared behind her, who was prepared for such an attack. She turned, throwing a triangular blue stone at him, which nailed him in the face, but did not more than aggravate him. The pebble fell harmlessly inside of his coat as he ignited his weapons and swung both of his arms to either of her sides, planning to sandwich her between them. With a word, she transposed and, as if she was a hologram, the blades when right through her image.

The hologram pointed behind him and when he turned, he saw Aresia with a scroll in hand. She unrolled it and spoke the words as Axel charged towards her. She thrust forward with the scroll and large white ball of energy flew from her hand, the paper disintegrating, leaving a blue mist trail in its wake as it homed in on Axel. See it approach, he ducked and jumped to her, aiming low with a swift kick which got her in the back of the knee. She fell forward, leaning on her staff, and he tackled her. He held one of his weapons to her throat. Through the shredded remains of her mask, he could see her smiling.

Pain erupted in his back as the missile hit its mark; it lodged itself, leaving a deep wound before dissipating. She pushed him off and struggled to her feet. She limped out of his reach.

Concentrating, she closed her eyes. Another blue rock appeared in her hand and she threw it at him.

"Geado," she whispered. The second it struck him, it exploded into an icy mess, sending frost in every direction and clinging to Axel. The ice bit into his wound and stuck to his coat, weighing it down, and stiffening. As the unforgiving cold pierced through his clothing, it set off the other one, filling his coat with snow, its chill set against his bare skin. The cold burned as if it was fire and Axel cried out. He tried to melt the ice on him, but he couldn't raise his arm. He gasped and could see his shuddering breath as he called out hoarsely.

"I," he coughed, and drew another breath, "give."

Aresia bowed very low to Axel and straightened. The 'crowd' clapped, some half-heartedly, some politely, and some excitedly. One member, Aresia guessed was Vexen, ran out to aid Axel. The others stood and left the bleachers. The last one to stand was one writing in a journal at a fast pace, he continued to do so when he was the only one remaining in the stands. Roxas briefly greeted her and walked with her over to Axel.

"Well done," Saix said to her as he passed, giving her a congratulatory pat on the back. Though he was trying to be gentle, he was successful in momentarily winding the frail mage who was weak enough from the fight as the magic's burn in her blood fizzled.

When the two arrived by the wounded pyromaniac's side, there was another there with Vexen. This one had darker blonde hair styled more strangely than Roxas' and was bombarding him with a vicious array of endless questions.

"Is he okay?" the man asked, hovering over Vexen's shoulder as he prepared a thawing agent.

"He'll be fine," Vexen huffed as he cut up pieces of a deep red colored plant and added them to a beaker of boiling water.

"What was that?"

"Flametongue leaf," he responded, stirring the mix twelve times counterclockwise and then setting the instrument down on his tray.

"What will that do?" he asked.

Vexen shook his head and ignored him.

"What will it do?" he insisted.

Vexen's face contorted and he snapped, "Damn it, Demyx! If you keep distracting me, I'll let your friend here die!"

Demyx shrunk away from the outburst as Aresia answered quietly, "It is anti-hypothermia, freezing of the blood, plant. It's like how aloe is to burns."

"You're the one that did this!" Demyx shouted, "Come to check out the damage and relay it to your little friends?"

In her defense, Aresia said calmly, "I came to see if he was okay and to tell him that it was a good duel."

"Oh," Demyx's face softened and he apologized, "Well, sorry for, you know, yelling. . ."

She raised a hand to silence him. "No wrong."

"Axel?" Roxas spoke to him quietly, his hand on his friend's shoulder. Axel merely groaned to show that he was still alive.

"Don't fret now, Roxas. It will be just a few more moments until this is ready," Vexen reassured him, keeping an eye on the bubbling mixture.

Aresia observed the potion. "It's done. You have to have him drink it while it's still boiling."

"What?" Demyx yelped.

"She's right," Vexen agreed. He took up the vial with a mitt on his hand and inched it towards Axel's mouth, who lifted his face away from it.

"You don't expect him to drink that, do you?" Roxas asked, siding with Demyx as the two exchanged concerned glances from each other to their partially frozen companion.

"He has to!" Vexen pressed the hot tube against his mouth and poured its contents into it.

"Their eyes widened as his body began to thaw, the black coat's frost sublimed into steam as it was expelled from the redhead. Axel's fingers twitched as he regained his ability to move.

"Remember, is element is fire," Aresia told them, "I doubt it even hurt him."

"Right, but what about his back?" Demyx said as Vexen rolled Axel on his side. Roxas grimaced at the wound and Demyx turned, covering his mouth. The gash had turned a putrid purple and oozed with infection in some places as some dripped with fresh blood, leaving a trail of sickly orange on the ground.

"It's not bad," Vexen deduced as he produced a bottle of hydrogen peroxide from his coat.

"Are you kidding me?" Roxas exclaimed, "That's what I would expect from the plague!"

"Stop reminding me!" Demyx yelled. He didn't have much of a stomach for blood, it causes him to cringe.

"Does it look as bad as it feels?" Axel muttered before emitted a low moan of discomfort as the chemical bubbled against his wound.

Aresia crouched next to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Horrible."

Vexen started to sprinkle an herbal powder over his back then prepared some bandages to wrap around him.

"Anything I can do to help?" Roxas asked while Vexen cut another strip of two-inch cloth.

"Maybe you could bring IX to the kitchen for some water. The last thing that Axel needs is stomach acid dressing his wound," Vexen indicated Demyx, who was then shaking slightly.

"I'll go too," Aresia volunteered. Before rising to her feet, she added to Axel, "It was a good fight. I truly hope you feel better and recover swiftly."

Axel smiled a twisted, pained smile as Vexen removed his coat, brushing against the raw flesh.

Roxas and Demyx bid him farewell and get well soon before Roxas opened a portal. He took Aresia's hand again as Demyx followed them through the blackness, to appear in a large kitchen.

There were blue tiled floors with matching counter tops. Wooden cabinets lined the wall above the counters and there was a pantry in the corner. A table with six chairs was set up to the right. Roxas opened a cabinet and extracted a glass and headed to the sink as Demyx collapsed into a chair. Aresia took a seat next to him and Roxas returned, offering a glass of water to Demyx, who accepted gladly. He drank in deep gulps, draining the cup before setting it down on the table.

"Feeling better?" Roxas asked and Demyx nodded.

He turned to Aresia. "You didn't seem unsettled at all."

"I've seen battles before. People getting limbs lopped off, faces being melted away as their eyes dripped like tears to the bloody ground," Aresia explained, "I've heard people getting their throats ripped out as they screamed, a sickening gurgle in their final moments . . ."

"Could you not!" Demyx whined, getting up for another glass of water as he paled.

"Really? That sounds pretty awesome; like something straight out of a horror movie," Roxas said, eager to hear more.

"Apologies, Demyx, and it's not the prettiest sight."

Demyx drank another glass and then muttered, "It's no problem. Hey, Roxas, I'm going to go back up to my room for a while, if you want to come," then he remembered Aresia was present as well, "The invitation is open to you too, Aresia."

"Sure, you coming?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "I actually wish to continue a book I found earlier. You two have fun."

"Okay then, you go ahead Roxas. I'll port her back to her room."

Roxas nodded and waved to Aresia before leaving the kitchen.

A silence formed when Aresia stood, waiting for Demyx to escort her to her room. He, instead, attempted conversation.

"So, what book were you reading?" he asked. Aresia decided that he must have a selective memory and the attention span of a kender.

"A Trip to Nerante," she recited, "by Amasal, I believe. I'm barely done with the first paragraph."

"I think I've seen Zexion reading that one before. Then, he's probably read every book in that library. He's usually found with his nose buried in some lengthy novel, but more recently he's been all about that notebook. He takes his experiments and assignments very seriously," Demyx chatted on, "Anyway, I bet that's a good book, it sure sounds like it from the title. Nerante sounds like a really interesting place. Maybe if it's real, I'll get to visit it someday. I know! I can ask Zexion where it is. He might not answer at first though, he finds me annoying."

Aresia checked her mask to make sure it had repaired itself before she let her smile sneak onto her face at his antics. "About that port?"

"Oh!" Demyx flushed. "It completely slipped my mind. Where are we going again, my room?"

Fighting the urge to laugh, she simply said, "My room, next to the library."

"Right! Here we go." Demyx called a portal in front of them and jumped when Aresia grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing?"

"Have to be in contact for it to transport me too," she replied.

"Nuh-uh!" he said childishly, "I've gone with Axel loads of times and we didn't hold hands."

She immediately let him go at that and murmured, "Well, that's what Roxas said . . ."

"Well, he lied," Demyx stated bluntly, "After you, ladies first."

She fumbled through the dark threshold and once again saw the familiar oak door. Almost the only familiar thing in this place, along with the abused control panel, which Demyx, who followed behind her, studied with interest.

"Looks like someone tried to break in. The panel's all dented," he observed, "Better make sure all your stuff's still there."

"I will," she told him, though she knew the real reason why it was damaged, "Thanks for the port and sorry about earlier."

"It's already forgotten," Demyx replied, "Take care."

Aresia didn't doubt him. "Bye."

He left through another portal, and Aresia wondered if he remembered Roxas was waiting for him, but she pushed that way. Unlocking the door, she entered and it closed behind her, she took up the book, returned to where she left off, setting down her staff and sitting on her bed. Her back against the wall, she sat Indian style, book perched on her lap.

*

A note: The book Aresia is reading is actually of somewhat importance to the plot, though it probably won't show until Chapter 2, which, in terms of FFnet chapters, may be about Chapter 7 depending on how I wish to break it up.

Thanks for reading,

kenthel